In My Arms
by Hobbsy3
Summary: When three members of the team suddenly become parents with no warning whatsoever, it can't be an easy thing! Whole team fic, with mentions of Warrick. Catherine and Grissom also appear. Lots of angst, not your average parent kid fic! Please please read and review! Possible romance, but mainly angst and family. Not AU!
1. Chapter 1: Have a Kid!

**Okay, new story! I've had this idea for ages now, so, yeah. It was written on my phone unlike The Best I Ever Had, but hopefully my laptop gets fixed today so updates on that will get up and running soon. This probably wont interfere with that (depending on reviews and stuff) but updates on both will be fairly slow cause I'm starting A-levels now so...yeah. **

**Anyway, this isn't your average people with kids story, please give it a go (if you know me, you know there will be angst!) **

**Please read. Hopefully enjoy. I beg you review!**

**In My Arms**

**Chapter One - Have a kid! **

She stared up nervously at the large, grey building labelled the Las Vegas Crime Lab and took a deep breath. She clutched at the old, creased business card and entered. The bustling activity slammed into her as she made her way to a reception desk. A friendly looking woman smiled at her.

"Can I help you, miss?"

She held her swollen belly and forced a smile to her pretty face. "Um, yeah, I'm looking for Nick Stokes? He, uh, he used to work here, I don't know if he still does, but...well..." She trailed off awkwardly and stared at the floor.

"He still works here. Why do you want to see him, Miss...?"

Quickly avoiding giving her name she blinked her big green eyes. "He's...I don't know what to do. He...he helped me and I have nowhere else to go."

The receptionist smiled wryly. "Okay. Morgan!" She called, and a short, pretty woman twirled around. "This young woman would like to visit Nick, could you take her to the break room please?"

The woman, Morgan smiled. "Sure. This way."

She took her visitors pass and followed the blonde through the lab.

"So how old are you?" Morgan asked with interest.

She glanced at the woman only an inch shorter than herself and quietly responded. "I'm sixteen. Seventeen in a week."

"Okay." Morgan nodded. "Are you one of Nick's nieces?"

She quickly shook her head, biting her lip nervously.

Morgan glanced at the girl, deciding to pass the burning questions to Nick later as the teen looked terrified. Or rather like she was trying to cover up being terrified.

"Just in here." Morgan said kindly, pushing open the door and revealing the only person in the break room. "Hey, Nick, someone here to see you!"

Nick turned and frowned when he saw the girl.

She quickly blinked back tears and Morgan left, closing the door behind her. "I don't expect you to remember me Mr Stokes, but you saved my life when I was ten and I...I'm sorry I...I'm just a little...lost..." She wrung her hands, the tears trailing down her face.

"Oh my god..." He breathed. "Cassie McBride?"

She looked up, shocked with a small nod. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have wasted your time, this is a bad idea. It's just, ou were really nice to me and I didn't know where else to come."

"It's okay!" Nick smiled warmly, "its fine. I'm not busy. Sit down, please." He pointed to a cushioned chair on the opposite side of the small table he was moving his feet off of. She cautiously but gratefully sat. He smiled and shook her hand. "How are you doing?"

Her lip trembled. "Um...not...not so good."

Nick frowned and leaned forward. "What's wrong?"

"Well, um...my foster family... Alicia, my foster mom is fine. So are Jimmy and Kyle, my foster brothers. I mean it's not like they really give a damn, but they're nice enough. But my foster father, John..." She took a deep breath and trained her eyes to the floor. "A few nights after I arrived he came into my room and...well, y'know... And um, I'm pregnant and he told Alicia I'm a slut and a whore and I don't know what to do or who to go to or-"

"Whoa, whoa!" Nick held up his hands with a tortured expression on his face, immediately ceasing the growing panic. "He... He molested you?"

Cassie nodded tearfully. "I'm not a slut I swear!"

Nick nodded painfully. "It's okay, it's okay. I believe you. He's been doing it for years?"

"He said he'd kill me if I told anyone." She squeaked shamefully.

"Okay. Okay." Nick took a deep breath and took her hands in his. "You're gonna be okay, Cassie, I promise."

"She kicked me out." Cassie whispered. "I was wondering if you would mind helping me find a new home to stay at for a while?"

Nick shook his head. "First things first. Do you have any evidence?"

She smiled wryly. "I remembered what you told me and I watch the crime shows. I...I got my bed sheets and...I found this..." She passed him a bag and a DVD, tears dripping off her chin.

Nick closed his eyes for a moment. "Okay. Here's what we'll do. I'll talk to my supervisor, okay, and I'll get these processed. Just procedure. You can stay here for now, okay?"

She nodded gratefully and Nick left the room quickly. She tucked herself away in the corner and drifted off to sleep.

She was woken by soft voices speaking around her.

"...was definitely the foster father, John Adamson. His and her DNA on the bed sheet, and the DVD just proves it. It was sick, Russell."

"I know. You're sure about...?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Well, Sara and Finn on that triple in Henderson, and Greg's still sick so I may need to call you in tomorrow."

"Thanks, Russell."

"No problem, Nick, no problem."

Cassie sat up nervously as Nick walked back into the room.

"Hey, Cassie. I've spoken to social services...if you like you could stay with me for a while? It's been cleared with your foster parents, John's in custody now."

Cassie hung her head. "I screw everyone's life up, I can't-"

"Hey..." Nick frowned. " You've just been through more than most people could bear. I'd like the company?"

Cassie bit her lip. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Sure. Sure..." Nick waved his hand absently. "I got a couple of days of work, it'll be fine."

She smiled sadly. "I don't wanna be a burden."

"Cassie, I visited you every week for as long as I could. And when I couldn't, when you moved foster homes I wrote to you."

She smiled softly. "I still have the letters."

"The Adamsons told me that you would settle in better without the letters." Nick shrugged uncomfortably.

She copied the gesture and he smiled.

"It won't be a burden, Cassie. C'mon, let's get you somewhere safe."

Nick gently put his arm around the teenager and gently led her through the hall.

Cassie felt strangely safe as the Texans' arm slightly supported her. She remembered him visiting her making sure she was as happy as she could be when she moved through the foster home's she'd had.

Two days later Nick stepped into Russell's office with a grim look on his face and a newborn baby in his arms.

"I need to talk to you."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**  
Sara slumped in exhaustion on the sofa with an ice cold bottle of beer. She'd just pulled a triple again- Nick had been off all week. She glanced at the calender on the wall. A week and two days until Grissom got home. She wrenched the top off the beer as the phone rang. She groaned and picked up the receiver.

"'Lo?"

"Hello, I'm trying to reach Dr. Gil Grissom?"

"He's not here, he's in Peru." Sara replied, too tired for anything but bluntness.

"Well is there a wife maybe I could talk to? This is Desert Palm Hospital."

Sara sat up and placed the beer on the table. "I'm his wife, is there a problem?"

"Would you mind coming into the hospital? There's a bit of a situation."

Sara walked up to the nurses' station twenty minutes later on a low coffee buzz.

"Hi, my name's Sara Sidle, I was asked to come in, I'm not sure why...I'm married to Gil Grissom if that helps."

"Ah, Ms. Sidle!" A voice behind her said. She turned to see a concerned looking African-American nurse. "I'm glad you could make it. There's been an accident, leaving quite a... unique situation. Here." She pointed to a room where a slender, pretty dark skinned woman lay attached to all sorts of monitors. "She doesn't have long left."

"Tina Brown." Sara murmured in shock. She recognised Warrick's ex-wife from when they met up with Eli, his son, every few months as per request from Warrick in his will.

The nurse nodded. "When I said you were coming she wanted to talk to you."

Sara frowned but slipped into the room. "Hi, Tina." She smiled softly.

"Sara." Tina closed her eyes briefly. "Eli...look...you look...after Eli." Sara frowned slightly and Tina's weak hand held hers. "Promise?"

"I promise." Sara repeated automatically. Tina nodded slightly, tears in her eyes. Sara held her hand as the monitors stopped beeping. The same nurse led a quietly crying Sara back into the corridor.

"I'm sorry...we weren't close but...her husband was a brother to me, and I see her son and..."

The nurse nodded sadly. "I worked with her. But the unique situation is Eli."

"Is he okay?"

"Thank god yes. He only got a few scratches. The impact didn't hit as close to him. Something like that anyway, that's more your expertise. Anyway, before the divorce, Warrick and Tina filled out forms called family support forms. They show who each parent would see their children go to should anything happen to them both by filling out family history forms. However Warrick filled it out slightly differently. Under father he put your husband. Since Tina's relatives are dead, you and Dr. Grissom are Eli's legal guardians."

Sara's eyes bulged. "Oh, god." She stared at the floor, biting her lip. How the hell was _she_ supposed to raise a five year old that only saw her once every few months? Warrick's five year old...

The nurse sighed. "We can turn him over to social services..."

Sara's head snapped up. Foster care. She'd been in foster care. "What? No!"

The nurse raised her eyebrows with a hopeful expression on her face. "You'll take him home?"

"Of course! He's not going to foster care!" _After everything Warrick did for me over the years, I owe him, _she added in her mind. Out loud she added, "Warrick was like my brother, and like a son to my husband. I'm not letting Eli go into care. Uh uh. Can I see him?"

"Of course." The nurse nodded, leading her into a different room. A small, african-american child was sitting on the bed, hugging his knees and crying. When he saw the nurse he flinched.

"I want my mommy!" He cried, and Sara's heart broke. She slipped into the room.

"Hi, Eli."

He glanced at her. "Sara?"

She smiled and nodded, crouching down next to the bed so she was at eye level. "Are you okay, Eli?"

His lip trembled. "My head hurts but I'm okay... Where's my mommy?"

Sara took a deep breath. "Eli, your mommy's gone to heaven, to be with your daddy and nana. She didn't want to go, but God called her." Sara wasn't particularly religious, but she knew Tina had been and thought it might help Eli.

He sniffled. "Why?"

Sara smiled sadly. "The angels wanted her back, baby."

Eli's trembling lip broke into crying and Sara hesitantly put a hand on his back. He flung into Sara's arms and wailed.

"Its okay, it'll be okay..." She murmured soft comforts to the five year old until he quietened and hiccupped. He looked at Sara with fear.

"I can't go home without mommy!"

She sighed. "You're gonna come stay at my house for a little bit, is that okay? Me and Gil."

Eli's eyes lit up slightly at Grissom's name and he nodded, tears still running down his face. Sara ran a hand down his cornrows as she continued.

"Now, I know we're not your mommy or your daddy, but we'll look after you, okay?"

"Sara." He nodded. "Can we go home?"

Sara thought about it for a moment. "Yep. Can we make a couple of quick stops on the way?"

Eli nodded, and lifted his arms out. Sara lifted the small child onto her hip and turned to the nurse, who was frowning slightly.

"I can take him home, right?"

"Well, yes, but I was wondering about the stops... He has just lost his mother, Ms. Sidle."

"I only meant my work and the store. It would be easier to explain to my boss in person, and I've been so wrapped up in work recently that the only food in my house is leftover take out. I was just going to pick something up for breakfast." She explained.

The nurse sighed and passed her a bag in the shape of the front of a Ferrari. "He was going to stay with a friend, he has clothes in there. He should be in a booster seat, if not a car seat."

"Do you sell them here?"

"No, but my daughters just grown out of hers. I was going to give it to goodwill, but I suppose this is."

"Thanks." Sara smiled, too tired and shocked to argue as the nurse went to collect the booster seat.

Half an hour she stopped her car at the crime lab. Eli had stopped crying a while ago, though she had told him it was okay to cry. When she opened the back door he stirred slightly in the cool night air but he didn't wake up. He was asleep.

"Lucky you." Sara whispered as she gently extracted him from the car, holding him on her hip and locking the car. As she made her way through the lab he stirred and started crying.

"Mommy!"

"Its okay, Eli." She murmured and he looked at her. His eyes filled with fresh tears.

"Oh...I memember...mommy can't hear me." He sobbed.

"She can." Sara argued. "She just can't talk back." They went into Russell's office as Eli's small hands connected around Sara's neck as she heard Nick say he needed to talk to the boss.

"Can I butt in?" She asked, slipping through the door. "This is really import...ent..." She finished, staring at the newborn in Nick's arms.

"Uncle Nick." Being one of Eli's godparents (though he hadn't found out until after the funeral) Nick had been given the title 'Uncle'.

"Eli?" He half smiled, half frowned. "What are you doing here?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Greg was hyped. He'd just taken Morgan out to breakfast after closing a case early. He opened the door to his apartment and made his way to the kitchen to make her some coffee.

"Nice place." She remarked. She picked a sock off the coffee table with a pen. "Well, um, kinda a nice place."

Greg blushed and he snatched it off her. "For your information, they're clean. I was going to wear them this morning then the phone rang and I was late and I forgot where I put them."

Morgan laughed and sat down. They'd been doing this for a while, breakfast after shift, back to Greg's for coffee. Strictly, coffee.

The doorbell rung as Greg passed Morgan the steaming mug.

"I got it." He winked, and answered the door. He was shocked when a woman with mousy brown hair immediately began talking.

"Oh, thank god! You asshole!"

Greg frowned. "Lisa?"

The woman pushed past him into the house. Morgan stood up awkwardly as the brunette shrieked "who the hell is that?"

"None of your business, Lisa, you dumped me a year ago! Remember?" Greg shouted angrily. "What the hell is going on?"

"Of course I remember. I just expected you to be alone. Sorry." She added to Morgan.

"What do you want, Lisa?" Greg frowned angrily. "Please get out of my house."

"You are an ass Greg Sanders. Do you have any idea what I've gone through?"

"No, I haven't heard from you since you said it was over." Greg rolled his eyes.

"You didn't come after me." Lisa narrowed her eyes.

Greg scoffed. "You were cheating on me. We'd only been dating three days. Why would I?"

She seemed stumped.

"Now, what do you want?"

"Well, you jerk, you got me pregnant!"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Sure I did."

"I'm not lying."

"We had sex once and we used a condom!"

Morgan shuffled uncomfortably and Greg glanced at her, blushing.

"It broke, remember! I didn't have sex with anyone else with a broken condom! And Andre is black!"

"So?" Greg's heart sank

"Well, the kids' white. I only slept with you, Andre and James at that time. Andre, who I married if you care-" Greg rolled his eyes again. "-is black, James is Chinese, and the kids're white."

"Wait, kids?" Greg frowned.

"Twins, you sonofabitch!" She shrieked, and Morgan and Greg's eyes widened. "I can't stand them, they scream and cry at all hours. Greg, I'm moving to New England. And I'm not taking them."

"What!" Greg cried.

"Either you take the little devils or the system does, I don't care. But they're yours, so..."

"Wha...where are they?"

She shrugged. "In the car. Duh!"

"You left them in the car?!" Greg cried as he and Morgan instinctively raced down two flights of stairs and onto the street. Lisa followed with a bored expression.

"Cracked windows, they're fine."

"Give me your car keys." Greg fumed. Any kid should never be treated this way. He still couldn't think of them as his. She sighed and unlocked the car. Greg gently extracted a small girl, about three months old, out of the car and passed her to Morgan, before lifting out a little boy. "You could have killed them!" He spat.

She shrugged and pulled the car seats out. Greg's mouth dropped open. The seats weren't even strapped in.

"Not my problem. They're yours now. Do what you want with them, I don't care!" She got in the car.

"No, wait right there!" Greg shouted.

"I left all their stuff upstairs." She shrugged, turning the car on.

"I don't even know their names!" Greg cried.

She shrugged again. "Neither do I!"

The car pulled out of the drive and Greg and Morgan exchanged glances. "Oh my god."

They blankly picked up the seats and made their way up to the apartment.

"Morgan, what do I do?" He panicked.

"I...I don't know. Who was she?"

"Lisa Cooke. I dated her about a year ago for a week or so. It wasn't that serious. It was more like a release." Greg shrugged and Morgan nodded.

"I get it."

Greg shook his head. "They just...they can't be mine."

Morgan looked down at the quiet, starring children. "Well, they do look like you. I know, I'll take their DNA to the lab, run a paternity test."

"Thanks." Greg said, relieved.

She nodded and raced to the lab. After escorting some teenage pregnant girl to Nick and dropping off the DNA to Henry, the available tech, she called Greg. "There's a two day wait."

"What!"

"Don't blame me, blame Henry."

Greg groaned. "Will you come back, please? I need help."

Morgan reached Greg's apartment in minutes.

"How'd you change a diaper?"

Morgan rolled her eyes. She ran him through how to feed, clothe and burp the babies between shifts. Two days later, her phone buzzed. "Hello?" She stared at Greg. "Thanks Henry." She paused. "You're the dad."

Greg ran a hand over his jaw and stared at the twins, asleep in their car seats.

"They need names." He murmured.

"We need to tell Russell." Morgan said gently. "The others can help us pick names."

"You'll help me, right?" Greg panicked.

"Of course. We're friends." Morgan smiled.

"Right, let's get to the lab."

They burst into DB's office as Nick asked someone "what are you doing here!"

"Russell I have a problem!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" DB held up his hands and stood up. "Now, everyone shut up!"

The CSI's stared at each other and the children in shock and curiosity as Russell shook his head.

"Right. Nick, who's kid is that? All I want to know this second is the parents and the quickest explanation as to why you have the kid."

"Cassie McBride is her mom, she's a teenager I rescued when she was a kid. She got abused by her foster dad and came to me a few days ago. I said she could stay with me. Yesterday she went into labour, but something went wrong. She...she died. And she's named me as her daughter's legal guardian." Nick finished in a choked voice.

Russell nodded sadly. "Right, Sara."

"This is Eli, he's Warrick Brown's son. He was in a car crash earlier. His mom's with his daddy now." Sara glanced at the distraught five year old sucking his thumb. "According to hospital records made when Eli was born, Tina's relatives are all deceased, and Warrick's 'father' is the only one left."

Nick frowned. "Sar, Warrick was an orphan, he grew up with his grandmother."

"He put Grissom down as his father." Nick and Greg hung their heads. "Legally he's mine."

Russell ran a hand over his forehead. "Okay, Morgan, Greg?"

"They're...they're mine." Greg admitted. "My ex came round a few days ago, told me she's moving to New England and left them. Morgan did a DNA test. They're mine. Three and a half months old. Lisa didn't even name them. Gave me custody records and stuff in a bag."

Russell looked round at all of them. "Wow, guys. I guess all I can really say is congratulations, you're parents. How the hell is this gonna work?"

"Well I couldn't let them go into the system!" Nick, Sara and Greg cried at once, and DB held up his hands.

"Guys, that's not what I meant. We're gonna be short staffed. You're all gonna need leave, babysitters. We'll all help, but..."

"Grissom's back in just over a week. He's not planning on working for a while..." Sara pondered.

"Grissom, a stay at home dad?" Greg's mouth twitched and Sara thwacked him with a smile.

"Russell, can we maybe talk about this tomorrow, I need to get Eli to bed." She frowned.

DB nodded knowingly. "Yeah, yeah, I guess that's true for all of you. Come back tomorrow at the start of the shift. We'll sort something out." As the four CSIs left his office Russell shook his head and called his wife.

"Hey Barbara. Yeah, I'm on my way. I got a little held up. I am still at work but I'm leaving now. No, not really a problem. We've had a bit of a baby boom."

**What do you think? Good, bad or ugly? Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2: Memories at Bedtime

**Thanks for all your reviews, you are amazing! Here's chapter two, it may seem a little slow but it will speed up in chapters three/four. Here is what I hope is a sweet chapter, maybe a little bittersweet. **

**So please. Read (and I love you). Enjoy (and I'm very happy). And Review (and I love you for ever and ever and ever and ever!) **

**Chapter Two – Memories at Bedtime**

Sara slammed the car door shut, Eli on her hip and shopping bags in her hand. Hank began barking joyously as she opened the door and Eli screamed.

"Its okay, it's just Hank. He won't bite." Sara murmured comfortingly, but Eli clung to her tightly. Hank sniffed at him with interest and Eli yelped.

"Bad dog!"

Hank cocked his head and stared at Sara, who spoke in a much softer tone than the small boy. "Its okay. Bed, Hank."

Hank let out a sound almost like a sigh and retreated to his bed. Sara carried Eli into the large but plain guest bedroom.

"This is your room. I know it's quite boring but we can decorate it soon, okay?"

Eli nodded mutely. 'Bad dog' were the only two words he had said since leaving the hospital. Sara almost swore when she saw the bed. Of course. No sheets. She laid Eli down on her own bed before quickly throwing clean sheets on Eli's. When she returned to the bedroom however he was fast asleep. Sara smiled sadly and walked back to the living room to fuss Hank a while, when she noticed the flashing on the answer phone. She clicked play, staring at the open beer on the table.

_"Sara, I'm just calling to say that everything's gone according to plan and I should be leaving Brazil on time. Unfortunately a monkey stole my phone charger so I won't be able to call you until I get back. I love you."_ Grissom's voice ended and Sara swore quietly.

How was she going to give her husband the heads up that they had a kid? As if on cue Eli screamed. Sara raced to the bedroom to find the boy thrashing wildly.

"Eli!"

He screamed and Sara raced hesitantly over, trying to remember back to what her own mother would do for her. She stroked his hair and murmured his name and Eli slowly woke from his nightmare. His eyes instantly focused on Sara.

"I want my mommy!" He sobbed.

"Oh, baby, I know!" She whispered, her heart breaking in two. She wrapped her arms around Eli and he hugged her tightly until they both drifted off into sleep.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Nick groaned and flopped down on the sofa, baby firmly in his arms. He rubbed a hand over his eyes as he remembered the previous night.

_"Come on, Cassie, breathe through it!" Nick encouraged as the teenage girl screamed. The midwives bustled around as she cried out._

_"I can't do it!" Cassie sobbed. Nick held her hand tightly. In the day the girl had spent with him before he had felt himself grow close to her. She sort of reminded him of Nessa, one of his nieces._

_"Sure you can, kiddo." Nick squeezed her hand. She squeezed it back even harder. Nick's heart was racing as the midwife nodded._

_"Its time. You have to push, now honey."_

_Cassie groaned and pushed as hard as she could. Nick's eyes widened as Cassie pushed out a baby._

_"That's it, good girl!" He grinned. "That's it! That's it, well done, Cassie. You did it, you did it kid! Well done!" He grinned as the nurses whisked the baby away to wash it and Cassie sobbed with relief._

_"Nick!" She gasped. Then she grinned weakly. "Thank you for being here!"_

_"Its okay." Nick smiled as the nurse passed the baby to the mother._

_"It's a girl."_

_"She's so tiny." Cassie whispered._

_Nick stroked Cassie's hair. "What are you gonna call her?"_

_Cassie shrugged. "I...I don't know. I don't feel too good..."_

_Nick frowned and the nurses and midwives crowded around._

_"She's bleeding..." One of them murmured._

_"Can you distract her?" Another muttered. Fear stabbed at Nick's heart at the thought of the young teen he barely knew dying on him._

_"Hey Cassie, what do you want to do first when you get her home?"_

_The teens eyes fluttered. "I'm tired. Nick I... Look after her."_

_"No, no, no! What are you talking about? You're gonna be fine."_

_"Can...can we call her Kristina?"_

_Nick smiled. "Cass, she's your baby. Call her what you want. I think its a nice name."_

_Cassie smiled. "Kristina McBride." She frowned. "If something happens, will you look after her? Not let her go...foster care?"_

_Not at all surprised, Nick smiled. "Of course. But you'll be okay. I won't need to."_

_"Would you call her Stokes?"_

_"What?"_

_"If you hadda look after her?"_

_"If you wanted me to."_

_Cassie nodded and closed her eyes. "I love you." She whispered to the baby. Nick smiled but his smile faded as she stopped breathing and her head tilted back._

_"Cassie? Cassie!"_

He wiped angrily at the tears in his eyes and sobbed. He remembered telling Sara that he thought Cassie was alive, seven years ago. He remembered the sweet little girl he spoke to in the hospital. He remembered the visits and the letters. He remembered the birth, the death. He stared at the tiny baby.

"Kristina McBride Stokes." He murmured, his voice tight and choked. "Kristina." He mused. "Bit long. How about Kristy?" The newborn stirred in her sleep. "I guess you like it. You know I had a friend called Kristy once. She was a... Well we kinda bumped into each other a lot. We started dating and the same night she got murdered. She was amazing though. Doom and gloom, hey kid? I don't even have a crib." He thought about it for a minute and grabbed at the phone. He pressed number one on his speed dial.

_"You've reached Catherine Willows, I'm busy at the moment so if you leave your name, number and a good reason I may call you back."_

He shook his head as he left a message. "Hey Cath, its Nick. I was just lookin' for some advice, if you get a chance gimme a call?"

He sighed and pressed two on his speed dial, very relieved when a groggy voice croaked _"Hello?"_

"Mom."

_"Nick? Its 3am, what's wrong?"_

"I have a problem."

He could hear his mother shake of some of the sleep. _"Nicky, are you alright?"_

He sighed and Kristy chose that moment to start crying. "I've kinda got a kid."

_"What! What did you do, knock someone up and-"_

"No! No!" Nick groaned. "I told Cisco about it the other day, did he tell you about Cassie McBride?"

_"The pregnant teenager?"_

"Yeah. She died." Nick said quietly.

_"What?"_

"She bled to death giving birth. Yesterday. Named me guardian."

_"Oh, Nick."_ His mother sighed_. "Is there anyone else?"_

"No. Her parents and brother are dead and I am not putting this girl into foster care."

_"I wasn't suggesting that you should, I-"_

"Her mom was raped and impregnated in foster care, I'm not going to-"

_"Nick, I said I wasn't suggesting it."_

"Oh. Sorry mom. I just don't know what to do."

_"Do you have a crib?"_

"No."

_"Baby formula or breast milk?"_

"A couple of bottles from the hospital."

_"Diapers?"_

"About three."

_"Baby clothes?"_

"No."

_"Blankets?"_

"Yes."

_"Okay, Nick. First thing in the morning you need to get those items, and a couple more things okay?"_

Nick jotted down a list. "So what do I do for know?"

_"Do you have a car seat?"_

"No I caught a bus from the hospi-...yes. Jake left Anna's old baby car seat here when he visited last time."

_"Well, God bless your brother then. She can sleep in there for tonight. Look, Nicky, I have court tomorrow afternoon, can I call you in the morning?"_

"Sure. Thanks mom."

_"Anytime, Nicky. I'm so, so sorry about your friend."_

"Yeah. Bye mom, love you."

_"I love you too."_

Nick rocked the crying baby and grabbed a bottle, gently feeding her the way the nurses showed him. She hushed slowly as he rocked her.

"S'okay, Daddy's here." He sung softly. She stared up at him with her mom's bright blue-green eyes. Nick carried her to the garage and single handedly pulled the car seat out of its box and carried it and the baby to his bedroom. He thought for a moment before clearing his large bedside table and putting the seat there, making sure that it was stable before lowering the tiny newborn down. He raced through the shower and cleaned his teeth, throwing on his pyjamas to the sound of Kristy crying.

"Okay, okay!" He picked her up and frowned when she refused the milk. He checked to see if she'd messed her diaper but she hadn't. "What's wrong?" He groaned when she wouldn't stop crying and climbed into bed, sitting up against a pillow rocking her softly.

_"Pancho, you gotta go to sleep now!"_

_Nick shook his two year old head firmly._

_"Well, I'm going now."_

_"No!" He cried. "Cisco stay!"_

_"Cisco's going to bed." His father headed for the door._

_"Ciiiiiscooooo!" Nick wailed, and his dad sighed, sitting on the edge of Nick's bed._

_"Why don't you wanna sleep, Pancho?"_

_"Muntas." Nick replied simply, grabbing his dad's arm._

_"There's no such thing as monsters."_

_"Dere is. Dake told me."_

_"Jake told you?" Bill Stokes shook his head. "Aw, Pancho... What am I gonna do with you?"_

_"Song?" The toddler asked hopefully._

_Bill shook his head with a smile and stroked his youngest son's hair. "I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told..."_

Nick blinked as the memory dispelled and he automatically continued to sing softly. _"In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade and he carries a reminder of every blow that laid him down or cut him 'til he cried out 'I am leaving, I am leaving but the fighter still remains!'"_

Kristy's sobs spluttered and turned to hiccups and then ceased all together as Nick sang and she looked up at him with wide eyes. As he continued her eyelids drooped and her thumb found its way into her mouth.

"Lie la lie, lie la lie lie lie la lie, lie la lie, lie la lie lie lie lie lie la la la la…lie…" he finished with a small smile as Kristy slept. He carefully lowered her into her car seat, thanked God for Simon and Garfunkel and fell asleep with a smile on his face as soon as his head hit the pillow.

**CSIVCSICSIV**

Greg somehow managed to manoeuvre the two babies through the door, thanking Morgan and locking the door behind her. He put his kids in the two cribs he had bought the day before that were currently squished into his bedroom and sighed. His kids. His. Greg Sanders - the dad! And what about Nick and Sara, he thought to himself. All in the same day? He flopped down fully clothed on the top of the covers and stared up at the ceiling.

"You're laughing at us aren't you?" Greg frowned at whatever God or Gods existed.

Suddenly his phone rang and both babies started crying.

"Who the hell would call right now?" He muttered, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Oh, Greg are you alright?"_

"Mom?" Greg frowned, picking up the baby boy and stroking his daughter's hair, holding the phone with his neck. I really need to name my kids, he thought. "Is something wrong?"

_"You called me earlier, said it was important and my phones playing up and I only just got your message and I was so worried and is that crying?"_

"Mom, calm down, I'm fine. You didn't have to call at four am." Greg said wryly, as the girl began to hush. His son however continued to wail.

_"Who's crying, are you okay?"_

Greg took a deep breath. "That would be my son."

_"Who's Mason?"_

"Not Mason. My. Son."

"_What?_" Greg's mom whispered.

"I have two kids. Twins. Three months old."

_"Why am I only being told now?"_ His mother's voice sounded like it was building up to a shriek.

"Because I only found out a couple of days ago and I only had confirmation it was mine a few hours ago."

_"What the hell did you do?"_

"I had a girlfriend about a year ago, Lisa Culler. She cheated on me from day one, caught her on day three. We broke up, but before that we broke the condom. She never told me. Came around the other day, came up to my apartment, left the kids with me and took off."

_"Why?"_ His mother spluttered.

"I don't think she cared." Greg spat. "She left them in the car. I wish she's given them to me sooner..."

_"Oh, Greg...are they alright?"_

Greg half smiled at his mom's immediate concern.

"They're fine. They're fine now. I'm gonna contact a lawyer tomorrow but I think I've got full custody."

_"Oh, Greg!"_ His mother's voice sounded more excited. _"What are they called?"_

"She didn't name them." Greg sighed.

_"So have you?"_

"Mom, it took me a week to name my hamster! I'm gonna throw some names around tomorrow, make it all official."

_"Good. I'm so relieved your okay."_

Greg rolled his eyes. "I know, Mom."

_"Don't roll your eyes at me, Gregory Hojem Sanders!" _

"Sorry Mom!" Greg grinned. "You know me too well."

_"I love you." _

"I love you too."

_"Greg! Wait!" _

He frowned at his mom's sudden desperation. "What?"

_"Your...your dad would be very proud." _

Greg sighed. "Sure."

_"Greg, how long did it take you to make up your mind you were going to keep them?"_

"I _did_ think about it." Greg protested as his son tugged on his ear.

_"Honestly, Greg." _

"Two seconds."

_"Your father would have done the same thing." _

Greg sighed.

_"Greg..." _

"I know mom. I miss him too."

_"I love you sweetie."_

"Bye Mom."

_"Say bye to my grandchildren for me." _

"I will. They love you too."

Greg's mom laughed slightly_. "And I love all three of you. Bye honey!"_

"Bye Mom!" Greg hung up and turned to stare into his son's eyes. They were almost identical to his own. "You are not being very good, leave my ear alone!"

The baby boy poked him in the eye.

"OW!"

_"Ow! Greg!" a man laughed. Four year old Greg Sanders giggled and poked his dad in the eye again. "Yowee!" _

_"Oops!" Greg smiled innocently. _

_Mark Sanders lifted his son into the air and swung him around, his feet flying over the crystal clear water beneath their small sailing boat. Greg squealed with delight. _

_"Daddy put me down!" _

_Instead, Mark brought Greg down onto his hip. "See this end of the rope?" _

_He pointed out a rope to Greg who nodded. _

_"It's called the bitter end. Can you remember that?" _

_"Da bitter end." Greg nodded again. "I can 'member daddy."_

_"You have a good memory, Greg. How long do you think you can remember that?" _

_Greg concentrated. "Da bitter end. Da bitter end. I will memember for years and years _

_"That's my good boy." Mark smiled, ruffling his son's hair. "Love you, kid." _

_Greg smiled a sunny smile. "Love you daddy. For as long as I memember its da bitter end, and dats foreber." _

_Mark laughed. _

_"Daddy?" _

_"Yeah?" _

_"Y'know da Lion King?" _

_"Yeah." _

_"Simbas' daddy leabes him all alone. You won't leabe me alone, will you daddy?" _

_His dad went quiet. _

_"Daddy?" _

_"No, Greg. I won't leabe you." _

_"I knowed it!"_

_ "Knew it." Mark corrected mildly. _

_"Knew it." _

_"Good boy." _

_"Pwomise?" _

_"What?" _

_"Dat you won't leabe? Foreber?" _

_"I can't promise that, Greg." Mark sighed. _

_"Why? Why would you leabe me?" Greg frowned, his small face contorting in a heartbreaking expression filled with anxiety and sorrow. "You can't leabe me Daddy, you can't!"_

_"I promise I'll try not to, okay Greg?" _

_"Twy?" _

_"My hardest." He placed Greg onto the floor and knelt with his hands on Greg's shoulders, staring into the almost identical eyes. "Greg, with my job, one day I might _have _to leave you. I won't have a choice. But I will promise that I will try my hardest not to leave you. My very hardest. I promise." _

_Greg considered for a moment. "Oday" _

_"Okay." _

Greg looked up away from his son's eyes, the same eyes that Mark Sanders had passed down to Greg and stared up at the sky. "Miss you, dad."


	3. Chapter 3: Shopping and Breakins

**Thanks for reviewing! I'm not sure about this chapter so I'm just gonna go right in. It will get better soon, I promise.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review **

**Chapter Three # Shopping and Break-ins#**

Nick groaned as Kristy screamed for the seventh time. Following what had become the norm he picked her up, rocked her gently and fed her. He glanced at the clock. It was two in the afternoon - about five hours before he was due for work. He decided to head to the store to pick up some stuff for Kristy, and raced through the shower. He pulled on a clean top and picked up the baby so he could install the car seat in his car. She promptly threw up all over his top.

"Aw, man!" He popped her back in the car seat and threw his top straight in the wash, throwing on a clean top and draping a tea towel over his shoulder. "You're okay." He murmured as the baby girl stared at him.

He was headed for the door when suddenly the phone rang.

Nick picked up the phone, rocking the gurgling baby. "Hello?"

_"Nick, its Catherine." _

Nick couldn't help but smile. "Oh, hey Cath!"

_"Hey. Sorry I couldn't take your call this morning, I don't work nights anymore, Nicky." _

"Sorry." Nick apologised sheepishly.

_"So what do you need?" _

"Advice." Nick said carefully.

_"What have you done now?" _

"I didn't do anything!" Nick protested. "I was wondering how you cope with...beingasingleparent?"

_"Nicky you'll have to slow down. What did you say?"_

"How...how do you cope with work when you're a single parent?"

Catherine scoffed_. "That's more than a quick answer, Nick. Why?"_

Nick took a deep breath. "Do you remember the case with the McBrides and the little girl Cassie?"

_"Yeah."_

"Well she turned up at the crime lab a few days ago. Eight and a half weeks pregnant. Her foster dad abused her. I said she could stay with ne a while and she died in childbirth two days ago. She named me guardian." Nick's voice was choked but he managed to get it all out.

"_Oh, God Nicky... I'm so sorry."_

Nick nodded. "S'okay."

_ "So are you gonna raise her as an uncle or a dad?"_ Nick smiled slightly - Catherine knew him well enough to not even bother asking _if_ he would look after her.

"Dad." He said firmly. "That's what Cassie wanted, it's what she deserves and I already have enough nieces and nephews to populate china...well, twenty two." Catherine chuckled and Nick continued. "Nah, I'm raising her like a dad."

_ "What's she called?"_

"Kristina McBride Stokes. Cassie asked me to give her my name if I ever had to look after her and well if I'm raising her like a dad... Besides, I heard babies are a bit of a chic magnet..." He joked.

_"Nicholas William Stokes!" _

"I'm joking, Cath!"

_ "I know. Contrary to lab belief it is possible to work for the FBI and keep a sense of humour._ _Kristina's a beautiful name Nick...am I allowed to call her Kristy?" _

"Of course! I do!" Nick admitted. He cleared his throat. "Um, Cath?"

_ "Yeah?" _

"I was wondering... Would you like to be her godmother?"

_"What?"_ Catherine whispered.

"G-o-d-m-"

_ "Nick!"_

"Are you rolling your eyes?"

_ "Are you kidding? Godmother?"_

"I'm serious, Cath. Deadly serious."

_ "I would love to, Nick_!" Catherine gasped. "_I get to spoil her, right?"_

"Of course." Nick grinned.

_"Then definitely Nick! Oh my god, I can't believe it!" _

Nick grinned. "Hey, Cath? You'll never guess who else are suddenly parents?"

_ "Who?"_

"Greg and Sara and Grissom." Nick shrugged matter of factly.

_"What!"_ Catherine shrieked.

Nick couldn't help but both smile and cry slightly as he explained the bittersweet events of the previous night to Catherine.

_"Oh my...poor Eli...kids?" _

"Are you shaking your head?"

_ "Maybe I did work with you too long."_ Catherine gasped, sounding breathless. "_Wow. I'm gone five minutes and suddenly half the lab are parents?"_

"Seems that way. I should tell my mom it's your fault I have so far failed to settle down."

_"Sure, Nicky. Look, I've got a pretty flexible vacation schedule, do you think you'll need a hand until_ _you get things sorted?" _

Nick's mouth popped open. "Wha...what do you mean?"

_"I'm offering free babysitting and parenting guidance for the three of you if you want it. I'm guessing Gil's still in_ _Brazil?" _

"Are you kidding, Cath?"

_"Not at all Nicky. Don't tell the others, but I'll be there tomorrow morning." _

A wide grin spread across Nick's face. "Thank you so much, Catherine."

_"You're welcome, Nicky. I've gotta go, sort out this time off, I'll call you later with details." _

"Thanks, Cath. I love you." It was strange how the simple words felt easier to say over distance.

_"Love you too Nicky."_ Nick could hear the smile in Catherine's voice. _"Oh and Nick? Congratulations."_

Fifteen minutes later after an impressively quick installation of the car seat, Nick and Kristy pulled in at the nearest store, which coincidentally was next to a childcare shop. He headed into the childcare shop first, thinking he would duck in and out, but he immediately was lost in the endless aisles of stuff. "Oh, man!" He moaned softly.

A young woman with a toddler on her hip laughed softly. He turned and stared at her.

"First timer, are you?" She had a strong English accent and a sunny smile and Nick couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah...she came as a bit of a surprise. I haven't really got anything and I have no idea where to start." Nick admitted.

"Its intimidating at first but it gets easier. Where's her mummy?"

"She died giving birth. Two days ago."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" The woman's face fell.

Nick nodded. "It's alright."

"If you don't mind me asking, how was it a surprise?" The woman bit her lip.

Nick sighed. He thought about lying, then shrugged. "Biologically she's not mine. I'm a CSI, her mom's family was murdered seven years ago, and I rescued her mom. She was ten at the time. Went into foster care, her dad abused her. She remembered my name and ran to me. I looked after her for a few days and she bled out giving birth. Lived long enough to name her daughter and name me guardian."

The woman looked heartbroken. "Jesus...you poor things." She bit her lip again. "Look, I don't have much to do today, why don't I give you a hand? I can tell you what you really need. If you ask the staff, you'll end up buying the whole shop!"

Nick smiled and nodded in relief. "If it's not a problem that would be great, ma'am."

She laughed. "It's Sasha, this is Ollie. And no, I don't mind, it's no problem."

"I'm Nick, this is Kristy."

Sasha smiled. "You're gonna need at least one trolley."

Nick glanced at the shopping carts. "Yeah, I am, aren't I?"

She laughed. "Here, this one has a baby seat; you can free your hands."

"Thanks." Nick grinned crookedly. As they made their way down the aisles Sasha explained each items purpose and dismissed several things that the store assistants would have deemed a necessity.

"So Sasha-" she grinned and Nick paused. "What?"

"I can never get over that."

"What?" Nick frowned.

"Saaasha." She drawled out the 'a' with a smile. "The way people pronounce it here. Where I come from its Sasha." She said the 'a' as a short sound, like in 'apple'.

"I can say Sasha." Nick protested, shortening the vowel. It felt strange.

She laughed. "Of course you can. What were you gonna say?"

"Where's Ollie's father?"

"I have no idea. Ran away as soon as I told him he was pregnant." Sasha shrugged, glancing at her son chewing on a dinosaur.

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged again. "Don't be, he was a bum face."

"Interesting choice of words."

"Ollie's learning to talk." Sasha explained. She glanced at her watch. "Okay. We have everything you need.

Sara awoke and detangled herself from Eli. The little boy stirred slightly but didn't wake and she used the opportunity to take a shower. Eli was still asleep when she came out of the bathroom so she decided to try and email Grissom.

She turned the computer on and logged in, but a scream drew her back to the bedroom. This time Eli was awake and screaming bloody murder.

Sara blanched at the sight of a tarantula crawling up the bedcovers.

"Grissom!" She cursed. "It's okay, Eli, he can't hurt you!"

Eli held a pillow in front of his body, sobbing. "I want to go hoooome! I want my mommy!"

Sara's heart broke and she steeled her nerves, gently picking up the spider. "See, he doesn't hurt. He's very gentle. He's Grissom's pet, we lost him a while ago."

Eli's eyes poked out from around the pillow.

"See?" Sara showed him the spider.

The boy hid again and Sara sighed. She raced into the back room, otherwise known as Grissom's nursery and dropped the spider into an empty tank, and slammed the lid on, running back to find the bed seemingly empty, bar a quivering lump under the covers which Hank was snuffling about.

"Shoo, Hank!" Sara sat down hesitantly on the bed. "Eli." She said softly. "Will you come out and talk to me please? The spiders and dogs are all gone." No response. She sighed. "I know that you miss your mommy."

Two sceptical eyes glared at her as they were revealed.

"I do know. My mommy's dead too."

Eli's whole head poked out with an inquisitive expression on his face.

"She died a while ago. She...she had cancer. My daddy's dead too."

Eli clambered out and stared at her.

She sighed. "My daddy died when I was about a year older than you. He wasn't very nice. My...my mom killed him because he was hurting us. Then they took my mom away too, because she'd done a bad thing." She wasn't sure whether or not she should be telling this to Eli, but she thought she may as well continue. "I went to a foster home after that. Do you know what that is?"

Eli shook his little head. "It's like a home where kids with no family go to live, but it's not permanent. Some of the people are mean...You move around, never stay in one place long..."

Eli sighed softly and hung his head, hugging himself and Sara instantly figured what he was thinking.

Her voice hardened. "This isn't a foster home, Eli. And you have a family."

He looked up at her in sadness and spoke in a hoarse voice. "I a orphan. I have no family. Nobody cares about orphans. Everyone knows that."

The pieces of Sara's heart throbbed painfully. "Eli, you're daddy was an orphan. And lots of people loved him. He didn't have a family so he made his own; with the people he loved the most. Uncle Nick was like his twin; Uncle Greg was like his baby brother. I was his sister. Auntie Catherine was like his...um...well, kinda like his...sorta...mom." _Slash secret possible girlfriend, _she though. "And Grissom was like his daddy. We were his family, and we're yours too, Eli. I know that you're hurting real bad. I know how you feel, I really, really do. But you've got us, Eli and we're gonna be okay. We love you. I promise."

Eli sniffled and surprised Sara by climbing into her lap with his thumb in his mouth. "I miss my mommy." He murmured, before looking up at Sara. "But I love you too."

Sara looked down at him with a smile. "Does that mean you're okay with living with me from now on? And Grissom when he gets home?"

Eli nodded.

"Okay, we have some stuff to do then. I have no food or anything fun in the house so we have to go shopping. Then we have to go back to my work so I can talk to my boss for a little bit. Does that sound okay?"

Eli sniffed. "Mm hmm."

Sara smiled and Hank crept into the bedroom. Eli stiffened but Sara rubbed his back softly. "Its okay. Hank's okay, he's a big softie."

Eli hesitantly put his hand in front of Hank's nose before withdrawing it at the last second.

"Its okay." Sara urged. "Hank won't bite. Shall we get dressed and go shopping?"

Eli shook his head. "Jamas." He said half firmly, half pleadingly.

Sara frowned. "You have to get dressed."

Eli's lip quivered. "Just once in my jamas?"

She sighed. "Okay. Let's have some breakfast and go." It took another hour before they _finally _got out of the house, but finally Sara and Eli entered the nearest superstore. "Right, you're gonna have to help a bit, Eli. I have no idea what to get."

Eli nodded, holding Sara's hand. She smiled slightly and made her way down the long aisles picking up item after item, completely filling her shopping cart. She bought a couple of cheap but nice sets of clothes from the clothing section as well as a football and a couple of kids' books and films. As she reached the checkout the young girl behind the counter smiled at her.

"Did you find everything you were looking for, ma'am?"

Sara nodded with a smile. "Yes, thank you."

The girl, Brenda according to her name badge, began to scan Sara's groceries. "Having a party or something?"

Sara chuckled. "I wish. This little fella has just come to live with me and my husband and it was kinda unpredicted. I work at the crime lab and I've been pulling long shifts, so I don't have much food around the house."

The girl tucked her blonde hair behind her ears, narrowing her eyes. "I'm sorry, is your name Zara, no - Sara!"

"Yes." Sara said suspiciously.

"Oh my god!" The teen gushed. "You probably don't remember me at all. I'm Brenda Collins, my family was murdered when I was about his age-"

Sara flashed back to her first year on the job, the tiny girl who had connected with her immediately. "Brenda! Of course I can remember. How are you?"

The blonde smiled and nodded. "I've been really lucky. I had a great foster home and they actually adopted me. They're amazing, I feel so special now. I visited my sister in jail, she explained why she did what she did and I got it. In a way however horrible it was I'm kind of grateful. I'm in a much better place now than I was then."

"Good. I'm really glad." Sara grinned sincerely.

"So are you fostering now or something?" Brenda asked while finishing Sara's groceries.

"Not exactly. Eli's dad was one of my best friends."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Brenda's face fell.

"I'm orphan now." Eli whispered. "Daddy died when I was a baby. Mommy died yesterday." He started to cry again and Sara picked him up.

"I'm so sorry." Brenda bit her lip.

"Its okay." Sara whispered to both of them.

"Uh, Eli?" Brenda said hesitantly.

He turned towards her, wiping his eyes.

"My mommy and daddy died when I was little too. Sucks, doesn't it?"

Eli nodded.

"You know what helped me so much?"

He shook his head.

"Two things that helped me the most, okay?"

"Okay." He whispered.

"Number one - pillows are good to cuddle. Number two - Sara. She helped me a lot and she's really nice."

"I know." Eli whispered. Brenda leaned over to whisper in Eli's ear. "She'll look after you. Trust me. She looked after me."

Eli looked at Brenda for a minute, before locking his arms around Sara's neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks." Sara smiled, hugging Brenda before paying and leaving.

She thought about the girl she had known, how different her time in the foster system was to Cassie McBride's. Brenda had been looked after. Cassie had been abused.

Sara sighed and passed Eli a light bag to carry the groceries up to her apartment and knew she had to make two or three trips. She took Eli into the living room area and gave him the books and the TV remote.

"Stay here, okay? I have to get the rest of the groceries, I'll be right back. Stay here and don't open the door, that's very important, okay?"

Eli nodded and Sara shut and locked the apartment door, mindful of child abductions and the like. God knew she'd seen enough. She got the last of the groceries out of the car and carried them up. As she reached her floor she could hear screaming. She sighed. Maybe Hank had – suddenly Hank barked.

She started running towards her apartment where the noise seemed to be coming from. Eli's now distinctive scream met her ears, along with Hank's vicious bark. Sara fumbled with the key at the bark that clearly wasn't friendly. She froze as another man's voice cried "_shit!"_

"SAAAAAAARRRRAAAAAAAAA!" Eli screamed and Sara twisted the lock, pushing open the door only to see a man in a balaclava holding a baseball bat over Eli. Hank was protectively crouched in front of him, hackles up and growling.

"What are you doing? Who are you?" Sara cried, and the man panicked.

"Ed, she's home!" She blanched as another man came out of her bedroom, a bag full of what looked like Eli's clothes in his hand.

Sara stepped back towards the dresser. "Eli, come here now."

"Stay there!" The man spat.

Eli whimpered and froze. The second man, Ed, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Hank.

"Call your dog away or I shoot him!"

Sara hesitantly called Hank over. "Hank, Eli come here please."

"Don't move!" Ed ordered. "Joe, grab the kid."

As the man lurched towards Eli two things happened at once. Hank the dog lunged at 'Joe' and Sara Sidle grabbed her gun out of the top drawer. Hank was batted away with the baseball bat and Eli cried out in unison with the dog.

The man picked Eli up, and Ed shot at Sara, who ducked, grabbing the police radio from the drawer.

"Control, control this is CSI Sidle I need immediate backup at my apartment!" She rattled of her address and stood up, shooting at Ed and clipping his arm.

Eli screamed as loud as he could as Joe tried to subdue him. He kicked and punched at the man, shouting out. "SARA!"

"Shut _up!" _Joe cried and Eli's fist connected to his chin. Joe brought his fist down onto the little boys face and both Sara and Eli screamed.

Hank flew through the air back towards Joe, sinking his teeth into the man's arm and dragging it down. As the two men screamed Hank let go and lunged at Eli, biting his pyjama top and dragging him out of the man's arms, before gently but quickly dragging Eli over to Sara who sheltered him with her body.

"Drop your weapons now!" She ordered, and both men hesitantly dropped their weapons. Vartaan suddenly burst through the door with Officer Mitchell and another officer that Sara didn't recognise.

"Freeze! On your knees now!" The two men dropped to their knees. Hank growled softly at Vartaan as he walked up to Sara as the other officers dealt with the would-be kidnappers.

"Sara, are you okay? I was in the area on a case, I heard the call..."

"I'm okay." She turned to Eli and put her hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Good dog!" Eli sobbed, falling into Sara's arms. "Hank's good dog!"

"Yep." Sara smiled as Vartaan crouched down.

"I heard you'd taken in Warrick's little one. You okay, kid?" Eli peeked over Sara's shoulder and nodded slightly.

"El, this is Lou. Lou Vartaan, he's a friend of mine. He's good friends with Auntie Catherine."

Eli's eyes lit up at the mention of his favourite Aunt.

"Really?"

Lou nodded. "Yep."

"Oh."

"Looks like my apartment's a crime scene." Sara sighed.

"Get DB to give it to Finn and Morgan, they'll be done by the time of your family meeting later."

"They're off the clock."

"Actually they're looking for one more case. Bet with Hodges."

"Oh, okay." Sara shrugged.

"I'll make the call." Lou winked.

"So where do I go? My two first pit stops both have their own baby troubles!" Sara frowned.

Vartaan shrugged. "Sorry, Sara."

"Right." Sara grabbed Eli's Ferrari backpack. "I'm just taking a day bag for Eli. And Hank."

"Okay." Vartaan nodded, checking it as per procedure.

Sara pondered where she could go and finally remembered someone with a day off. Someone she would go to in a heartbeat. She knocked on the door and the man answered with a surprised smile.

"Eli, Sara! Uh, Hank?"

"Eli, remember Uncle Jim?"

Greg awoke to the sound of sweet screaming and sighed. He found the culprit, his son who he referred to for the moment as 'Trouble', and began to feed him. He ran a hand through his hair and rocked quietly. "Are you ever gonna let me sleep?" He groaned.

His doorbell rang, making his son cry again. He shuffled over and peeped through the peephole, opening the door with a shocked look.

"Papa Olaf?"

The old man chuckled. "Greg! Your mom called me last night. Said she had news."

Greg half laughed, hugging his grandfather tightly. "It's so good to see you."

"You too, Greg. And who's this?"

"He doesn't have a name at the moment but I call him 'Trouble'. He's my son." Greg said proudly.

"Then you may as well just keep him called 'Trouble'." Papa Olaf laughed. "Let me guess, you've called your girl 'Tricks' for now?"

"Busted!" Greg laughed.

"Do I ever get to hold them? I may be seventy nine but I'm not falling apart yet."

"Sure, come in, come in. Just, let me get dressed, okay?"

Papa Olaf laughed, taking Trouble from Greg. "Sure thing." Ten minutes later Greg emerged from his bedroom with Tricks. "Oh, Greg she's gorgeous."

"Thanks." Greg grinned. "So how long since you've spoken to Katie, anyway?"

"Oh...about a month." Greg shrugged.

"I remember when you two were our Trouble and Tricks. How old were you when you blew up play school?"

"I was three, she was four. And technically we didn't blow it up. We just filled some balloons with paint and threw them around. It only _looked_ like an explosion. And still that assistant called us the cousins from hell."

Papa Olaf shook his head."Ah, Greg. I remember your mother's face."

Greg laughed. "At least dad found it funny."

"Oh he loved it." Papa Olaf nodded. "Greg?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that he didn't want to leave."

Greg's eyes flew down. He hated this topic. "Of course."

"But you don't, Greg. You blame him for leaving you."

"He was in the army he didn't have a choice." Greg said monotonously.

"Gregory Hojem Sanders, look at me."

Reluctantly Greg met his grandfather's eyes.

"He tried to get out. After that... beating." Both men winced slightly. The Demetrius James incident was a well known, and hated, story in the Sanders family. Greg's mother wasn't the only protective one. "After the beating he put in a request to be discharged. His commanding officer told him he could be honourably discharged after one more deployment."

"And now he's missing in action. Presumed dead." Greg said softly. "Why didn't he tell me he was quitting?"

"Because he wanted to surprise you. And we all expected him to come back.

" Greg wiped at the tear he hadn't noticed falling. "I miss him. Trouble has his eyes."

"As do you." Papa Olaf put an arm around Greg's shoulders.

"I'm really confused. I don't know how to be a dad."

"You think I did?" He laughed. "At least you didn't get kicked out of the country for impregnating this girl."

Greg snorted. "True."

"I was seventeen when your nana got pregnant with your mom. She didn't turn out that bad. You'll be fine."

Greg nodded, sighing. "Their mom...it just...it makes me so angry. They're tiny for their age, they were left in the backseat of a car...she was such a bitch...I can't believe I ever...urgh!"

Papa Olaf nodded. "But now they got you, kid. They don't need her when they got you."

Greg grinned at his grandfather. "How's nana?"

"Good, she's good. She wanted to come down today but she's doing that charity skydive that she scheduled last year."

Greg grinned widely at the idea of his seventy seven year old grandmother leaping out of an airplane for charity.

"She'll be down tomorrow."

"Good." Greg grinned happily.

"And if you need some babysitters until you get back on your feet..."

Greg's grin stretched even further. "Hey, Papa Olaf?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you like to come with me to work?"

**Please review. Please?**


	4. Chapter 4: Surprise!

**I'm so sorry for the wait, school work takes up more time than I'd like. If anyone's still reading please, please let me know. I'm not sure I like this chapter. If you've read any of my other stuff you know I like angst, so this story will get angstier (I know it's not a word!) but so far it's seemed too fluffy. It will get better I swear. **

**Please Read, Enjoy and please please please review?**

**Chapter Four # Surprise!#**

"Russell, will you please tell me what this 'family meeting' is about? Please, you're killing me!"

"Jules, have a little patience."

"Patience? Patience? I'm not good with patience?"

"Oh really?"

"Ha ha."

"Hey guys." Morgan smiled as DB and Finn entered the break room.

"Morgan, will you _please_ help me? I wanna know why there's a 'family meeting' - Russell won't tell me."

"You mean you don't know?"

"You do?" Finn's eyes bulged as she rounded on Russell. "Why am I the last to know?"

"Last to know what?" Hodges frowned, entering the room with Archie, Mandy, Henry, Al Robbins, David Phillips and Bobby Dawson - who was although now technically dayshift was invited because of his friendship with Greg and the other grave shift CSIs.

"All I can say is that you're all in for a hell of a surprise!" Morgan laughed, sitting down.

"Why?" Finn urged.

"Hi guys, sorry I'm a little late." Nick came into the break room carrying Kristy in a car seat. Her eyes were closed as she slept, showing the faint purple of her eyelids.

"Oh she's gorgeous!" Mandy cooed. "Who's this?"

"My...daughter." Nick smiled crookedly.

"What?" Half the room cried.

"Let him explain when Greg and Sara get here!" DB hushed them all with a slight smile. Sara and Eli arrived next with Brass and Hank in tow. The dog wore a special visitors' pass, and Eli's hand clutched the lead firmly.

Almost before Sara could introduce the small child most of them knew anyway, Greg came in with his son on his hip with a fairly old man with similar features to Greg and a familiar twinkle in his eyes.

"Hi everyone. Russell, this is my-"

"Papa Olaf." Sara, Nick and Archie grinned. Greg went slightly red and the old man laughed.

"Grandfather." Greg finished. "I brought him along, d'you mind, Russell?"

"No, no, course not!" Russell smiled. "DB Russell, pleased to meet you!"

"Olaf Hojem." The man smiled, shaking Russell's hand. Russell called everyone to attention and relayed everything he had heard the night before.

"The question now guys, is how we handle this."

"Grissom will be back in a week or so but he doesn't know about any of this. I was going to call but I got a voicemail telling me that his phone charger got stolen by monkeys-"

"You're kidding?" Greg blurted.

Sara gave him the glare. "It happens. So I won't be able to get in contact until he's in the airport."

_"'Hi honey, how was your trip? Dinner'll be ready at six and by the way we have a five year old'."_ Sara threw a pen off the table and it hit Greg on the head, cutting off his high pitched imitation of Sara. "Hey, baby here!"

The boy gurgled and Greg turned on him.

"Don't side with her!"

"Don't worry Greg. My aim's better than yours."

"So anyway kids, what we need to figure out is things like paternity and maternity time, childcare, all that sorta stuff. Plus, if people are taking out time we'll be short staffed, but that doesn't mean we can't deal without you if necessary for a short while, we gotta do what we gotta do." DB finished with a nod.

"If any of you need childcare I'll be around for a while." Papa Olaf nodded.

"You sure?" Nick frowned.

The old man rolled his eyes. "Trust me, Greg's cousin's kids get up to even more trouble than he did and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays I look after ten of them. I can handle four." He grinned a grin so similar to Greg's that Nick had to believe him.

"My...sister is coming down for a week, she can help." He added, remembering the plan for a surprise.

"I know a CSI who might be able to help out." Hodges offered.

"Good, good." DB nodded.

Sara jumped as her phone buzzed. "Excuse me a second!"

She put Eli on the floor and he wrapped his hand around Nick's belt. Nick half smiled at him and picked him up as Sara left the room.

"Hello?"

_"Guess who?" _

"Gil!" Sara cried. "How did-"

_ "I thought I'd surprise you, I got an early fight. We wrapped up early." _

"Oh my god!" Sara's mouth dropped open.

_"Is everything okay?" _

"Yeah..."

_"Sara?" _

"I'm glad you're back, Gil. I am. I just... We have a...situation."

_"Situation? Is everyone okay?"_

"Kinda..." Sara bit her lip.

_"You're being very cryptic, Sara are you okay?"_

"I'm fine, I'm fine...can you come straight to the lab?"

_"Yes..."_ Grissom said hesitantly. "_Why?"_

"Our apartment's a crime scene and we're having a family meeting about something completely different."

_"What!" _

"It's okay, nothing's stolen or broken, apart from a few bullet holes in the wall."

_"Oh god, Sara, what the hell happened?" _

"I'll explain when you get here."

_ "I'm getting into a cab now."_

Sara couldn't help but smile. "We're in the break room."

_"I'll see you in five."_

Sara walked back into the break room. "Grissom's on his way. He was gonna surprise me..."

"Now you're gonna surprise him." Nick laughed.

"Yeah..." Sara sighed.

"Ha! I knew there were no monkeys!" Greg laughed. His son made an irritated gurgling noise and hit Greg on the nose. "Ow!"

"Greg, I think you should name your son Karma." Sara smirked, taking Eli when he reached out to her.

"I say we pretend that this is what we do everyday when Grissom arrives." Greg announced. "Y'know, 'just another day at the office'."

"Who's the kid here?" Nick rolled his eyes.

"Me." Greg retorted.

"God bless those poor kids!" Mandy dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Haha." Greg said dryly. The door flew open and over half the room couldn't help the smiles spread across their faces as Gil Grissom stepped into the break room. His eyes widened at the sight of all the children.

"Wha...what..."

"Oh yeah, we made Grissom speechless!" Greg grinned.

Grissom half glared at Greg, but there was a fond tone lingering around it.

"Hi honey." Sara hugged Grissom tightly with one arm and he hugged her back as if in a daze. "Hi Eli." Eli waved at Grissom, dropping his head onto Sara's chest.

Grissom quickly embraced Nick, Brass, Al, Greg, David and to everyone's surprise Hodges, before shaking hands with Russell, Finn and Morgan.

"So, what the hell is going on here?"

Ten minutes later Grissom shook his head. "This is not what I expected."

Greg snorted. "Join the club."

Grissom just shook his head again. "Greg Sanders, a dad?"

"Superdad." Greg corrected.

Grissom shook his head a third time and turned to Eli. "So you're living with us for a bit, hey Eli." The boy nodded. Grissom pursed his lips. "Well, I'm not working at the moment, so..."

"Gil Grissom - the ultimate stay at home dad!" Nick announced with a smile.

Grissom just rolled his eyes.

"Um, now Griss is here, I'd like to say something." Greg said seriously. "My ex didn't even name these two, yet another reason I'm so glad I got custody, and I was wondering if you guys would help?"

"Sure." Nick, Sara, Morgan, Finn, Grissom and Russell automatically responded.

"Of course." Mandy scoffed, and Henry nodded. As soon as consent was given Greg smiled widely.

"Great. I was thinking of calling my daughter Low-ay-la, spelt Loeila. Lola for short."

"Well, it's gorgeous, unusual...fits in with your tastes and ideas. Well, some of them." Sara nodded.

"I like it." Grissom smiled, causing Greg's grin to widen.

"Then Maree, with two 'e's." Everyone nodded and Greg finished with "Hojem Sanders."

"Loeila Maree Hojem Sanders. I like it." Brass declared and general nodding flew round the room. It almost surprised Greg how much the detective's approval meant to him.

"Any ideas for the boy?" Nick grinned.

"I'm not sure. I know middle names..."

"What about Loki, after the God of mischief?" Sara smirked.

"How about Rudy?" Nick suggested. "Sound kinda Norwegianish."

Greg and his grandfather rolled their eyes.

"I like Reuben." Morgan added.

"_I_ like Reuben." Henry nodded.

"So do I!" Greg declared. "Reuben Warrick Mark Hojem Sanders?" The room fell sadly quiet.

"Its a great name, Greg." Grissom said quietly.

"Magabahbah." The baby girl, Loeila said seriously.

"Baby likes the names." Eli said quietly.

"Do you like the names?" Greg asked Eli softly. Eli considered and nodded.

"Pretty names."

Greg smiled. "Thanks."

"After daddy?"

"What?"

"Reuben Warrick. After my daddy?"

Greg swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah. After your daddy."

"Okay."

Sara's phone buzzed again.

"Why, aren't we Little Miss Popular today!" Greg grinned.

She smirked and answered the phone. "Sidle."

_"Sara, its Vartaan." _

"Oh, Lou, hi. Did you figure out..."

_"You're not going to believe this but they got the wrong town house. Thought you were his nanny,_ _mixed up the address on the SatNav. I've checked it all out; their boss paid them two grand to kidnap_ _a different kid as a prank to his father. They were shooting pea guns, thought you were in on it."_

"Really?" Sara raised her eyebrows.

_"Yeah. I thought it could be a trick but all the details pan out. You can go home now, Sara. I'll send_ _you the case report if you like." _

"Thanks."

_"How's the little guy doing?"_

"He's...well, he's okay considering."

_"Poor fella. Let me know if there's anything I can do."_

"Thanks so much, I will."

_"No problem. Bye!"_

"Bye." Sara hung up. "They got the wrong damn house. The people that tried to kidnap Eli got the wrong house. It was a prank, according to Vartaan they were using pea guns."

"Wow. Never heard that one before." DB raised his eyebrows.

"Bad men. Good dog." Eli said firmly.

"That's right, Eli." Sara smiled.

"Um, Griss?" Nick said softly. "I, uh...I was wondering, would you be her godfather?"

Grissom smiled. "I'd be honoured, Nicky."

Nick grinned and Greg cleared his throat.

"Speaking of godfathers... Its a Hojem family tradition for each kid to have five godparents."

"Five?" Nick's eyes bulged.

"Two godmothers, two godfathers and whoever the father owes the most money to." Papa Olaf explained.

"Oh." Nick frowned.

"Nick, Grissom, would you mind being Reuben's godfathers?"

"I'd love to, Greggo!" Nick grinned.

"So I take it I'm forgiven for the mildew experiment?" Grissom asked with a raised eyebrow trying to mask the pleasure on his face.

"Not quite." Greg grinned, and Grissom laughed slightly. "I was also wondering if Mandy and Catherine would be his godmothers."

"I'm in." Mandy nodded with a smile.

"I'll call Catherine later."

"So who'd you owe the most money to?" DB asked with a slight grin.

"Henry?"

"Me?" The lab tech asked. "Are you serious?"

"Of course." Greg scoffed.

"Then sure." Henry beamed.

"As for Loeila... Sara?"

"Do I even need to say it?"

"Yes."

"Then yes! And don't patronise me."

"And Morgan?"

"Me?" The blonde's eyes widened even more than Nick's.

Greg nodded solemnly. "You've been an absolute godsend since they...arrived."

"Do I get to teach her how to kick your butt?"

"Mm, okay."

"Then definitely."

"DB?"

The supervisor grinned at the baby girl. "How could I say no?"

"Archie?"

The A/V tech grinned. "No."

"What?"

"I'm kidding."

"Good, or else I'd have to kick your butt!"

"Greg! Language, small people!" Hodges gestured.

"And the person I owe the second most money to right now is Hodges."

Hodges looked shocked as Greg grinned at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I don't hate you anymore."

"Nice to know." Hodges murmured, his mouth hanging open.

"Did Greg just do what I think he did?" Morgan asked Mandy.

"Oh, I remember the days they were still hating each other across the hall." She mocked happily.

"Yes or no?" Greg raised his eyebrows.

"Yes." Hodges smiled slightly. "I gotta make a phone call!"

"Tell your mom I said hi!" Morgan called as he raced out of the room. A few minutes later he spoke quietly to DB.

"Okay guys. Thanks to Hodges I can give all three of you a week of paternity and maternity leave. Nick, Kristy's too young for just a week so take three or four if you need it."

"Thanks." Nick smiled slightly. "Is it weird that she's not really mine and I'm already in love with her?"

A chorus of 'no's surrounded the room.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Eli followed the bold Hank back into the house, nervously pausing at the door. He turned back to look at Sara.

"Its okay. They're gone now, they won't come back."

He nodded and followed Hank to the large dog bed. Hank flopped down and Eli flopped down with him, resting his head on Hank's back. Hank moaned softly and sniffed Eli's head before dropping his head contentedly onto the bed.

Sara half smiled for a second before following Grissom into the bedroom. "So Tina's dead?"

"Yes."

"And half the lab are parents?"

"Yes."

"And you just said you'd take him in without even trying to call me?" Even after years of being married, Sara couldn't read Grissom's face.

"Well, I couldn't let him go into foster care, Gil! When I was there I...they..." She shook her head and he looked at her. "I couldn't let Warrick's son go through that. Not when there were people who would care for him. And I didn't have it that bad! I... I looked at him and I saw that boy, the one Greg found in the dumpster years ago, with Sofia and I just... He... I couldn't just... Gil..."

"Sara, I didn't say that you made the wrong decision. And I'm happy he's with us and not in care. I know you couldn't call. I'm sorry, in just a little jetlagged and shocked. I'm sorry, Sara."

She smiled sadly. "Its okay, I just... I'm exhausted. I finished a triple shift, picked up a traumatised child, I got about six hours of sleep, I got shot at, I just..."

"I know I wanted you to keep busy, but this..." Grissom let the light joke trail off and wrapped his arm around Sara, pulling her towards him. "Get some sleep. I'll look after Eli."

She looked at him. "You sure?"

He kissed her softly. "I'm sure."

"You're jetlagged."

"I could always run one more shift than you." He smiled slyly.

"Is that a competition?"

"Not now." Sara grinned gratefully.

"Sara!" Eli called, tiptoeing to the door.

"Yeah?" She sat up.

"Are you gonna leave again?"

Her heart thudded painfully. "No, Eli. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just bringing the groceries up. And I won't do it again."

His wide green eyes fell onto Grissom's and Grissom's mind flashed back.

_"If I could have picked my own father, I would've picked him." _

Warrick's eyes had passed down to Eli, just as Greg's had passed on to Reuben.

_"...never knew your father?"_

_ "That's why Eli has to know his." _

Grissom swallowed as he thought of the video of Warrick talking about his son.

"Hey, Eli? Sara hasn't had any sleep for a while... How about you and I hang out? Just for a while. Sara'll be right in here."

"Okay..." Eli said, putting his thumb in his mouth again.

Sara gratefully headed towards the door to the en suite while Grissom took Eli into the living room.

Eli looked up at Grissom sadly. "What d'you wanna do?" Grissom asked. Eli shrugged. "I dunno."

He didn't sound like a whining child, more like a boy with no hope. No reason to play.

"Eli..."

"What?" He whispered when Grissom didn't speak.

"I'm...I'm really sorry about your mommy."

Eli's eyes filled with tears. "She left me. She just won't come back! Just like daddy."

"Listen to me." Grissom knelt down and put his hands on Eli's shoulders. "It's okay to be sad. To feel like you won't be happy for a long time. But your mommy didn't leave you on purpose and neither did your daddy. They both wanted to stay with you, so bad. But they couldn't."

"Why?" Eli asked, his voice breaking and his lip trembling.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Grissom shook his head.

"It's not fair!" Eli's lip trembled. "_Why?"_

"Because god said it was time to go."

"I want my mommy." Eli sobbed, falling into Grissom's arms.

"I know." Grissom shakily stood and Eli's legs wrapped tightly around Grissom's waist. His tiny body wracked with sobs, and he clung to Grissom. Grissom felt the pain of losing Warrick rise up within his chest once again.

He held the little boy tightly to himself, trying to sympathise with the tiny boy.

He would do right by Warrick. Look out for Eli.

"Its gonna be okay. One day you'll be okay."

Sara found them later that evening when she got up at the insistence of her protesting stomach. They were all asleep. Grissom lay on the couch with his back to the back; Eli was curled next to him, his arms wrapped around Grissom's neck like a lifeline. Hank was curled up on Grissom's feet, his head on Eli's lower leg. He was the only one to look up when Sara walked in. She pulled her dressing gown around her and walked over to them.

She kissed each of them on the head and turned out the light.

**Note: Grissom may seem a little OCC, it's because he's now retired and because he's been on holiday and he's missed the team and blah blah blah. Catherine will come back next and someone else who's a surprise. Brownie points to anyone who can guess who (hint – Hodges...) **

**Please review. It's hard writing right now. :'(**


	5. Chapter 5: The First Morning

**Thank you thank you thank you, you lovely reviewers! So appreciated, as well as subscribers as well! Thanks so much. Mixed feelings about this superquick chappy, but here we go. **

**Read, Enjoy, Review! **

**Chapter Five # The First Morning #**

Grissom opened his eyes sleepily to an unexpected and very welcome smell. He saw Eli still fast asleep so he sat up carefully, cradling the small boy in his arms.

"Do I smell bacon?"

Sara smiled up from the kitchen island. "Morning sleepyhead."

"You're a vegetarian..." Grissom yawned.

"Oh really, Gil?" Sara rolled her eyes. "I got an omelette. You two looked too sweet to be disturbed, and I thought you'd be hungry."

"Thanks, Sara."

"Don't mention it."

Eli sighed softly and yawned. His green eyes fluttered open and locked immediately onto Grissom's.

"Morning Eli." Grissom said softly.

"Mornin'." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. His nose twitched. "Bacon?"

"Do you like bacon?" Sara asked gently.

"My favourite." He responded shyly.

"Are you hungry?"

Grissom was answered with a nod.

"Good thing I've finished cooking then." Sara smiled. She put a plate full of bacon on the table and Grissom plonked Eli into a chair, dishing him up and appropriate amount for a five year old.

"I think we need to call the executor of his mom's will." Sara told Grissom quietly. "We need to get his stuff, find out when the funeral is..."

"Good idea." Grissom said quietly. "Would you like me to do it?"

Sara shook her head. "I'd like to get it over and done with. Besides, I actually made the agreement."

"Okay. I'll take Hank and Eli to the park. Get some fresh air."

"Well, make sure he's warm."

"You've turned into an all American mother already." Grissom teased. Sara's response was to flick omelette at her husband.

Half an hour later Grissom and Eli left the house with Hank, Eli's small hand enveloped in Grissom's larger one.

Hank loped around without a lead and led them to a small, deserted child's play area. "You wanna play?"

Eli sniffed. "Can I?"

"Of course." Grissom sat down on the park bench as Eli started to climb the climbing frame. A small scream had him up from his bench and at the climbing frame in record time.

A small spider was crawling across the floor of the frame.

"'Pider!" the boy shrieked.

"It's okay, Eli. This one's harmless. It's called a _Steatoda triangulosa_, or a triangulate cobweb spider." Grissom allowed the spider to crawl onto his hand. "See?"

Eli backed away, his eyes wide.

"Spiders aren't too bad. You can barely even feel them. He won't hurt you."

Hesitantly Eli edged closer to Grissom. "Good spider?"

"Yes." Grissom nodded.

"Okay." Eli put his hand slowly next to Grissom's and allowed the creepy-crawly onto his skin.

"Tickles!"

"That's right. You don't need to be scared of spiders."

"But they're scary!" Eli protested, staring at the one crawling across his hand.

"Why?" Grissom asked softly.

"Because... Because they are!"

"They're not too bad. They're just misunderstood. Everyone thinks that they're bad guys whereas really most of them are quite harmless."

Eli pondered on this for a moment. "Do they get lonely?"

"I suppose they do." Grissom nodded.

Eli looked up fearfully. "Is Sara lonely now?"

"She's on the phone, she should be okay."

Eli seemed content, and brushed the spider gently off of his hand. "Good. Will you push me?"

"Okay." Grissom followed Eli to the swings.

"I use the big boy swings now." Eli said with a hint of pride.

"Wow, you are a big boy." Grissom agreed as Eli clambered onto the swing. He gave a small push, unsure of how high was too high.

"Higher!" Eli protested, kicking his legs. "Higher please!"

Grissom pushed a little harder as another boy sat on the swing next to Eli, a man coming from behind to push him up high.

"Like that please!" Eli said excitedly. "Please, Grissom!"

Grissom sighed and pushed a little higher, still reluctant to go too high.

"You haven't been doing this long, have you?" The man remarked kindly.

Grissom looked at him. "Uh, no."

"He your nephew or something?"

"My mommy died." Eli said sadly. "So Grissom and Sara are lookin' after me 'cause they were friends with my daddy before he died."

"That's pretty much it." Grissom agreed.

"I'm sorry." The man said sadly, absently pushing the swing. "That's horrible. So you just took him on?"

"His father was like a son to me." Grissom explained. "I'm just not really used to what children need and want."

"Oh, it gets easier, trust me. That's a good thing you did."

"Thank you." Grissom nodded.

"Well, I'm Harry, Harry Riddle and this is my youngest, Jamie."

"I'm Gil Grissom and this is Eli Brown."

"Hello." Eli said to the other boy who stared at him.

"He, uh... he won't respond to you, Eli, I'm sorry, he's deaf." Harry explained regretfully.

"Really?" Grissom asked in interest.

"He can't hear a single thing." The man sighed sadly. "Got ill after he was born."

"I'm sorry." Grissom said.

The little boy, Jamie made a small noise of delight and pointed at Hank who was loping back.

"Hank, come here." The dog responded immediately to Eli's call and he happily fondled the dog's ears. Hesitantly, Jamie reached out and stroked the dog, looking up at Grissom, who immediately signed 'it's okay'.

Harry looked at him in shock. "You can sign?"

"My mother is deaf." Grissom explained as the boy began to stroke Hank.

"Grissom?"

"Yes Eli?"

"Why doesn't he talk?" Eli asked curiously.

"Because he can't hear. He's deaf."

"Oh." Eli frowned. "Why?"

"Because he got very sick when he was a baby."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Grissom shook his head.

"Why?"

Grissom frowned.

Harry laughed. "Oh, the good old why game. Best way to drive a parent up the wall."

Jamie patted Grissom gently to get his attention, signing 'can I play fetch with your dog please?'

Grissom nodded with a smile, handing the boy a ball from his pocket. "Is that okay?" He asked the father.

"Sure, sure."

"Grissom? What did you do with your hands?" Eli asked.

"Its called sign language. It is how deaf people speak."

"Can you teach me?"

Shocked, Grissom nodded. "Of course."

"You've got yourself a smart kid." The other man remarked as Eli ran off to join Hank and Jamie.

Grissom nodded. "I know."

The two men watched as Eli and Jamie began interacting without speaking or really signing. Instead they used over the top gestures and acted things out.

"That's the first time I've heard him laugh..." Grissom murmured as Eli giggled.

"Poor kid." Harry shook his head. "You know, I've never actually seen a hearing kid play that well with Jamie, except from his sisters. Do you live around here?"

Grissom nodded and pointed down the road. "Just over there."

"Wait, is your wife's name Sara Sidle?"

Grissom frowned. "Yes..."

"I think I'm your next door neighbour."

Grissom's frown deepened. "Really?"

"Yeah, we moved in about a month ago. My wife Laura mentioned something about a dog and a husband that was in, was it South Africa?"

"South America." Grissom corrected, remembering a conversation with Sara about Laura Riddle, the new neighbour. "I think she mentioned Laura."

"Well, how's that for a coincidence?" The man shook his head. "Anytime Eli wants to play, bring him over to ours."

"Thank you." Grissom said, professionally hiding how unnerved he was by giving so much information away. A little while later Grissom sighed. "I think we have to go now."

Eli looked up with a sad face. "I don't want to go."

"Well, we have to. Sara will be getting lonely."

"Look, anytime you wanna organise a play date or you need help with anything, gimme a call, okay?" "Thanks." Grissom nodded, taking Eli's hand and whistling to hand. He signed goodbye to Jamie and Eli copied, causing Jamie to grin widely and wave goodbye.

"We're home!" Grissom called and Eli ran straight into Sara's arms. "Met the neighbours."

"Hey, you." She looked up at Grissom. "Tina's friend Frankie is taking care of the will, I've arranged to meet her at noon tomorrow to talk things over. Oh, and Nick called, he wants us to come over."

"Can Hank come too?" Eli asked hopefully.

"Hank, do you wanna go in the car?" Grissom asked. The dog whined and retreated to his bed. "Not this time." Grissom told Eli. "Let's go see Uncle Nick, shall we?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Nick rubbed an arm over his eyes as Kristy began to cry. He groaned and sat up slowly. When in hell was he going to get any sleep? He staggered over to the cradle and peered in. Kristy looked up at him with tearful blue green eyes as she spluttered and cried. He picked her up, rocking her gently.

"What's wrong with you, huh baby girl?" he murmured. "What's wrong with you?"

She cried hungrily and he reached to the bedside table, grabbing the bottle of milk and pushing it gently into the baby's mouth. She drank thirstily, staring up at Nick as she did so.

"There we go. Is that better, baby?" he smiled softly, glancing at the clock. "Damn it!" he burped her quickly and placed her back into her cradle before throwing himself through the shower and waffling down some breakfast, cleaning his teeth just as the doorbell rang. Kristy started to wail at the sudden noise, and Nick scooped her up out of the cradle and racing to the door. He opened it with a large grin.

"Catherine!" he grinned.

"Nicky!" his old boss hugged him tightly. She looked at Kristy and her mouth popped open. "Oh my god, she's gorgeous!"

"Come in, come in!" Nick held open the door. "And she is."

"Can I hold her?" Catherine asked, her face alive and full of adoration.

"Of course." Nick beamed, passing the crying baby over.

"Hello Kristina." She breathed. "Oh, you're beautiful..."

Kristy's crying slowed and stopped as she looked up at Catherine.

"She likes you." Nick said.

"Good." Catherine smiled, breaking eye contact with Kristy to look at her lifelong friend. She put a hand on the side of his face. "Nick..."

"What?" he smiled.

"I was beginning to worry you'd never have kids."

"Cath-"

"No, Nick..."

"You're sounding like my mom."

She punched his arm. "Nicky, I'm trying to be nice here. She is beautiful. I'm so sorry about Cassie."

Nick looked at the floor and nodded. "Yeah..."

"It was a good thing that you did, Nicky. Taking her in." Catherine looked back at Kristy, rocking her gently. "So do I get to meet Greg's kids too?"

"I should've known that you wouldn't just come down here for me." Nick pouted.

"Shut up, Nicky."

"They're adorable." Nick grinned sheepishly.

"Call him over!" Catherine urged. "And Sara and Eli!"

"Grissom's back too." Nick added, and Catherine's eyes widened.

"Dial the damn phone, Nicky, now!"

"Okay, okay!" Nick shook his head.

Sometime later the doorbell rang and Nick and Catherine paused. A strained voice called out from behind the door. "Nick, please open the door!"

Nick looked through the peephole and laughed, opening the door. Greg had a car-seat looped over his arm containing Loeila and another empty one behind it. Reuben was in Greg's other arm, gurgling angrily and pulling at Greg's ear. Slung over the same arm that held Reuben was a large nappy bag.

"Having trouble there, Superdad?" Nick grinned.

"Shut up, Nick. I was fine until Trouble woke up!"

Nick laughed again and took Reuben out of Greg's arms. Greg sighed in relief and shifted Loeila's car seat.

"Come in, there's someone here to see you."

"Really?" Greg frowned, making his way to the living room. His face instantly lit up. "Catherine!"

"Hi Greg!" Catherine hugged Greg tightly with her free arm, Kristy cradled in the other.

"What are you doing here?" Greg asked happily.

"Nick called me, said we'd had a baby boom. There was no way I was missing out." Catherine explained. "Oh, Greg, they're adorable!"

"Thanks. They get it from me!" Greg boasted.

"Nick told me about their mom... What did I tell you about the bad ones, Greg?" Catherine shook her head.

"I know, I know! In all honesty, I was only with her for like, three days!" Greg protested.

"Oh, Greg..." Catherine shook her head.

"Um, Cath..."

"Yeah?"

"Would you, uh, would you mind being Reuben's godmother?"

"It's alright if you say no, he's already got four other godparents." Nick teased, rocking the boy in question.

"Of course not, Greg!" Catherine smiled. "I still can't believe it..."

The doorbell rang and Nick went to answer it. Suddenly Eli came running into the room.

"Auntie Catherine!" he shrieked in delight.

"Hi, squirt!" she laughed as he barrelled into her. She managed to lift him onto her hip without disturbing Kristy too much.

_"That's_ super-parenting, Nick." Greg murmured. Grissom and Sara both grinned widely at Catherine.

"Hi Cath!" Sara exclaimed.

"Hey, Stranger." Catherine nodded at the both of them. "I would hug you but, well, you know..."

Everyone laughed. It didn't take long before they all sat down and began chatting. Eli sat in Catherine's lap and Greg placed a sleeping Reuben in his car seat, and Nick was holding Loeila in his lap. Grissom held Kristy gently.

"Look!" Nick exclaimed happily as Loeila started batting his nose. The other adults all cooed, but it wasn't that interesting to Eli.

He closed his eyes sleepily, but then they snapped back open. He stared across the room. "Auntie Catherine?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Baby's sick!"

"What?" She frowned.

"Baby's sick!" he pointed at Reuben.

Catherine looked up at Reuben, whose eyes were still closed. He looked very peaceful.

"What do you mean, Eli?"

"Baby's sick!" Eli scampered down and crossed over to the car seat. The adults watched in horror as the tiny baby boy convulsed, shaking in the car seat.

"Oh my god!" Greg cried in fear, immediately leaping to his son's side and undoing the car seat straps with shaking hands.

"Sara, call 911!" Catherine ordered, taking control as the brunette immediately grabbed her phone and began talking. "Greg, pick him up slowly and gently..."

Greg eased the trembling baby up out of the seat. Suddenly the convulsions stopped. Greg breathed a small sigh of relief as Reuben spluttered into a cry. He started to wail as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, his small face screwed up in unmistakable pain.

"Oh my god." Greg turned his fearful eyes to Catherine.

"Ambulance is on the way." Sara murmured.

Shaken, Catherine put an arm on the young man's arm. "Greg..."

"I know. Something's wrong with him." Greg's voice shook. "Something's wrong with my baby."

**Please review? What do you think?**


	6. Chapter 6: Call The Nanny

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! Disclaimer/Apology – my medical knowledge is not amazing and as per usual this condition is COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. Sorry. **

**I know this isn't the world's best chapter and I'm sorry but I know where I'm going so it will get better soon. ANGST IS COMING, PEEPS!**

**I'm sorry for the delay - school is so demanding that I won't be able to update as often as I'd like. Of course, it's easier to make time when there are reviews...hint hint. **

** Read, Enjoy, Review**

**Chapter Six # Call The Nanny #**

Greg paced up and down in the waiting room in the paediatric unit. Everyone who had been at Nick's house was there, along with Morgan. Greg's grandfather was picking up his grandmother from the airport but promised to be there as soon as he could.

"Greg, you're making me dizzy." She said softly, putting her hands on his shoulders. "They're gonna be okay."

Greg moaned softly and fell back into a chair. "They took them both!"

"We know." Morgan nodded.

He sighed, flashing back to the conversation with the doctor.

_"Sir, have either of your children experienced seizures in the past?"_

_"I...I don't know... I've only had custody seven days, I didn't know they existed before that..." Greg whispered hoarsely. _

_"In that case I think it would be better if we took a look at both of them. It won't take too long, you and your friends can take some seats in the waiting room." _

_"But..." _

_"But what?" _

_"Can't I be with them?" Greg pleaded. _

_The doctor shook his head sympathetically. "This ward has strict rules, Mr. Sanders. They're in good hands." _

"What's taking so long?" Greg muttered, and Catherine put an arm around his shoulders.

"Greg, it's only been half an hour and they probably need to run a lot of tests. Besides, it's probably nothing at all. Febrile seizures are common in kids-"

"Above the age of six months." Greg looked at Catherine. "I looked it up."

She squeezed his shoulder. "They're going to be fine."

"Mr. Sanders?"

Greg leapt to his feet at the nurse's call. "Yes?"

"This way."

Greg looked at Catherine quickly and she nodded as he followed the nurse down the hall. The doctor he had spoken to before was holding a crying Loeila, whereas the nurse next to him held Reuben.

Automatically Greg's hands twitched to take his daughter and the doctor handed her over.

"It's okay, daddy's here." He murmured softly, his heart glowing as Loeila instantly quietened. Greg glanced at Reuben, then up at the doctor. "Are they okay?"

The doctor sighed and Greg's heart stopped beating. "Loeila is fine."

"And Reuben?" Greg whispered.

"Mr. Sanders, where is the mother?"

"I have no idea, what's wrong with my son?" Greg said tightly.

The doctor ignored the question. "She just left you with the twins?"

"A week or so ago, yes." Greg's eyes left Reuben for a second to stare at the doctor. "Please?"

"Was their mother addicted to drugs?"

Greg felt like someone had poured ice over his heart. "Wh...what?"

"Your son is experiencing symptoms of a disease known as _narcotriphysis_, which is caused by exposure to drugs such as methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin."

"Oh my god..." Greg breathed in horror. "She...she did...will he be okay?"

"I can get you a prescription for some meds that would clear it up in a week or so and he shouldn't face too many ill effects. However, he may be more prone to having febrile seizures, and depending on how much he was exposed to fumes and the like there may be long term effects. It is very, very likely that he will develop epilepsy later on. More than 80% a chance, actually." The doctor paused at the agonised look on Greg's face. "I've given them all the normal health checks and vaccines as I couldn't find the records. If you give him the medication every day and keep a close eye on him for the next two weeks or so, I don't see why Reuben won't be okay."

"Why is she not sick?" Greg murmured, staring down at the baby girl in his arms.

"I don't know." The doctor answered. "It may just be luck, less exposure, healthier immune system... You can take them both home if you wish."

"What do I do if he has another seizure?" Greg asked softly, his hand softly stroking his son's hair.

"Wait for three minutes. If it lasts longer than that, call 911." The doctor explained, handing Greg a leaflet. A nurse carried Loeila into the waiting room as Greg took Reuben and the others stood up quickly.

"I'll take her." Morgan offered quietly to the nurse who was happy to hand the blonde her goddaughter.

Greg opened his mouth to repeat what the doctor told him but only five words came out. "She was a damn druggie."

"Oh, god..." Catherine covered her mouth. Sara and Nick's eyes widened and Grissom's eyes closed.

"I...I had no idea... I..." Greg hung his head.

"Greg, is Reuben okay?" Nick asked gently but firmly. Greg took a deep breath and nodded.

"He has narcotriphysis. It means she was exposing them to drugs and he's got meds and the doctor said he _should _be fine but that doesn't mean he _will _be. He said that there's more of an eighty percent chance of epilepsy."

"Greg, epilepsy isn't usual fatal." Grissom pointed out.

"Usually!" Greg cried. "My cousin died of SUDEP – Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy!"

"Greg, he's going to be okay." Catherine insisted.

Greg just shook his head. "I swear, I am going to find that bitch and I am gonna-"

"Greg!" Sara interrupted, glancing meaningfully at Eli, who was looking at Greg curiously.

Greg hung his head and Sara wrapped her arms around him.

"Its gonna be okay." He dropped his head onto her shoulder for a second.

"You won't find her, Greg." A new voice announced. Greg looked at Brass, who was quick to elaborate. "I already did. Lisa Cooke has been picked up for drug possession with intent to distribute. If you wanna talk to her she's sat in an interrogation room."

"I do. I have some questions." Greg growled, angrier than he thought he'd ever been before.

**CSIVCSIVCSICV **

Brass watched Greg enter the interrogation room. The woman on the other side of the table was hot, there was no doubt about it. She had a face that most people would find difficult to hate. Brass didn't have that problem. What she'd done to Reuben and Loeila, whatever it was, was inexcusable. Brass knew better than anyone how it felt to have a child affected so badly by drugs, though in Greg's case his son hadn't done anything wrong.

In Brass' eyes Greg was just a kid himself, the way he was able to retain his innocence. He didn't look like a kid now.

"So what did you do?" Greg asked coldly. "Home our babies in a crack house?"

"Greg, I-"

"There is no damn excuse, Lisa!"

"What did you call them?" she asked softly.

"There is no way in hell I'm telling you that!" Greg slammed a hand down on the interrogation table, making Lisa jump. "We already have you for distribution. I'm gonna add reckless endangerment of a baby to the list."

"Greg!" Lisa complained. "I thought you could get me off!"

Greg's eyes narrowed. "Your son had a seizure this morning! He's almost definitely going to have epilepsy because you snorted and smoked around him. I am not helping you. No way. Help yourself."

"Greg, I'm sorry! I never meant for him to get sick, I just..." Lisa pleaded as he headed for the door. He turned around and looked into her desperate eyes. "Can I see them?"

"Over my dead body!" Greg growled, leaving.

Lisa hung her head.

He believed the crack-head story, the one she had been oredered to tell.

He believed that she didn't love her babies, that she had been the one to expose them to drugs and alcohol.

He believed that she hadn't named them because she couldn't be bothered - in reality she knew that Greg would rather do it himself.

He believed that she cheated on him...

If Lisa Cooke had been given a choice, she would have told Greg the truth. And told him straight away about his children. She had never loved him but she had liked him as a man so much that she hated what had happened, what she had had to do.

If she had had a choice she would have left her job, taken the kids to Greg, raised them like a normal pair of parents in a broken relationship.

But at least her babies were safe. She knew that Greg Sanders would look after their babies better than most would. She knew he would protect them. The two people she loved the most in the world.

She'd died when they'd been taken and when she got them back and found out about her son's illness, she'd taken them straight to Greg, to explain, and to leave them somewhere safe.

But with the other woman, Morgan, there, she had to go for the bimbo act.

Feeling as if she should be sobbing, Lisa sighed and tapped her nails against the table to keep up her 'druggie' act. Never ever had she hated her job so much.

Lisa Cooke seriously regretted ever agreeing to work for the CIA.

**CSIVCSICSIV **

The next week passed relatively quickly in Nick's eyes. The CSI Hodges had contacted to help was none other than Wendy Simms, who everyone was happy to see.

Grissom and Sara went to Tina's funeral and collected all of Eli's stuff, taking it home.

Greg got into a routine with help from his friends and grandparents, who had to unfortunately return to San Gabriel when another family emergency was declared, though they promised to return soon. Reuben hadn't had any more seizures since Greg started the medication, and he and Loeila were looking better than ever. Greg was however, struggling to find a babysitter he thought would be trustworthy and could deal with the seizures.

Nick's doorbell rang and he opened the door. His mouth fell open. "Rosa?"

A petite Hispanic woman in her fifties or sixties smiled. "Nicky!"

He hugged her tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I came to see your baby of course!" The woman replied.

Happily Nick led the woman to his living room. Kristy took to the woman instantly, her little hand wrapping around Rosa's offered finger.

"What are you going to do while you're at work?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure." Nick confessed as he stared at the woman and child.

Two years before Nick was born, his mother had given birth to twins Ethan and Mary-Jane, two of Nick's older siblings and numbers five and six in the family. However, both Bill and Jillian worked, and with five kids under twelve, they employed eighteen year old Rosa Hernandez to help them look after the children. She was like a second mother to each of the Stokes children, especially Nick. She had been on holiday in Mexico visiting family when he was nine and had been left with a last minute babysitter, and as soon as she came back he refused to leave her sight for months.

When Nick, the last child to leave home, left, Rosa had stayed on as housekeeping for Nick's parents, but everyone knew why she stayed. She was as much a part of their family as each child.

"I don't know where I'm gonna get a decent nanny from, y'know my standards are quite high." He teased.

She smiled. "I may know someone. She works very cheap if she gets a room in the house and is guaranteed good service."

"Really?" Nick asked hopefully. Rosa nodded meaningfully and Nick's eyes widened. "Would you?"

"Of course Nicky! I was hoping that you'd ask me..."

"Please, Rosa, be my daughters nanny!" Nick begged with a grin.

"Of course I will." Rosa smiled back.

"Greg and Sara go back to work tomorrow." Nick sighed. "I kinda wanna go, but at the same time..."

"Go when you feel like you should." Rosa said sincerely. "If there's one thing you can be good at, Nick, its following your heart. Got you into a hell of a lot of trouble..."

He laughed. "Yeah, it did, didn't it?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"Hello?"

_"Hi, is this Greg Sanders?" _

"Yep, who's calling?"

_"Um, hi... I heard that you were looking for a babysitter who can deal with a possible case of epilepsy?" _

"Who is this?" Greg frowned.

_ "Oh, god, I'm sorry. My names Lindsey Willows, you probably don't remember me, I haven't seen you since I was like, fifteen, but-" _

"I remember." Greg interrupted. "How're you doing?"

_"Good, good. My mom told me about what happened with your kids and I wondered if I could help? I've been looking for a job as a specialist babysitter while I'm doing a degree in nursing." _

"I am looking but if you're studying and working nights..."

_"That's the beauty of it, my classes are online, twenty four hour so I can study whenever I like." _

"Wow..." Catherine's daughter - surely he could trust her? "Would you like to come and meet them first, and we can discuss payment and stuff like that? I'm not really sure how to do this." Greg admitted and Lindsey laughed.

_"Sure." _

About half an hour later Greg answered the door to his old supervisor's daughter. She was causal dressed in a t-shirt and smart jeans, and a cheerful smile adorned her face.

"Hi, Lindsey, come in. Sorry about the mess." Greg smiled sheepishly, leading her into the living room. Reuben was lying on a mat under his 'play gym', batting happily at the dangling toys and Loeila was chewing on a teething ring, despite the fact that she wasn't actually teething. She gurgled happily at her dad.

"They're gorgeous!" Lindsey smiled.

"This is Loeila and this is Reuben." Greg introduced them proudly. "Sit down."

They sat down on the couch and discussed rates. When they came to a decision that they were both happy with, Greg smiled.

"Now, I'm obviously going to try and cut down on the number of doubles, but-"

"Greg, my mom was a CSI. I know all about doubles, triples, all that jazz. If I wasn't prepared for that sort of thing I wouldn't offer to work for a CSI." She smiled.

Greg could hardly believe his luck. "So what do you know about epilepsy? I thought you wanted to be an actress?"

"I decided that it was more of a hobby than a profession." Lindsey shrugged. One of my friends had a little brother who was often in and out of hospital, and it made me really interested in paediatric nursing, so I'm going down that route. I've been on several first aid courses, including three paediatrics and one specifically on common childhood conditions such as epilepsy and asthma."

She passed him a file and he flicked through it, very impressed. "Wow, this is really good. When could you start?"

She shrugged. "Right away, if you wanted."

Greg's eyes widened. "Could you start tomorrow?"

"Yes." Lindsey nodded.

"You're hired!" Greg smiled.


	7. Chapter 7: Breakaway

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Love you all sooooo much! So, in this chapter Sara and Greg go back to work. Slight angst but not enough for me, lol. This should be one of the last build up chapters, I'm sorry, but please stick with me and I promise to try my hardest not to disappoint! **

**Read, Enjoy, Review!**

**Chapter Seven # Breakaway #**

"Hey, Eli?"

The little boy looked up at Sara from his playing cards.

"I gotta go to work tonight, okay? Gil's gonna stay with you, but if you wake up and I'm not here it's because I'm at work. Is that okay?"

"Why do you work in da dark?" Eli frowned.

"Because I gotta put the bad guys away in the dark." Sara explained, coming to sit on the living room floor with the child.

Eli looked up at her. "I don't want you to go."

"Well, I gotta go." Sara sighed. Eli put a hand on her arm and she looped her arm over him. He snuggled into her side.

"Why?"

"So that the bad guys don't get away with being bad."

"Okay..." Eli sighed. "You gotta go an' save the world?"

Sara laughed. "Something like that, yeah."

Eli nodded contently and looked back at his solitaire hand. Suddenly his eyes widened and his hand flew back onto Sara's arm, gripping it with fear.

"What's wrong?" she asked quickly.

"Will the bad guys hurt you?" Eli whispered.

"Oh, sweetie, I don't think so."

"But what if they do?" Eli's eyes were filled with so much worry that it physically pained Sara.

"I'll be very careful, and there are people to protect me at my job." Sara tried to reassure him.

"Like who?"

"Uncle Jim, for one. There's Lou, do you remember Lou?" Eli nodded and Sara continued. "And I know how to fight the bad guys if I have to."

"Please don't go! I don't want you to get hurt." Eli begged.

Sara pulled him closer towards her. "I don't have to go until later."

He sighed. "Did my daddy ever get hurt at work?"

Sara thought for a moment. "Well...he did get punched in the face once."

"What happened?" Eli asked with wide eyes, his cards completely forgotten. "Did he punch back?"

Sara thought back. "No... He was very good and didn't. He had to help Uncle Nick though, when Uncle Nick punched someone a year later."

"Why did Uncle Nick punch da person?"

"Because the person hurt Uncle Greg very badly." Sara said softly.

"At work?" Eli cried.

"No, on the way to work. Uncle Greg saved a man's life and got very hurt in the process." Sara explained, trying not to scare the little boy any further and biting her tongue at every second word.

"Sara, please!" Eli pleaded. "Stay!"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Sara entered the break room and rubbed her hands over her face.

"Tough for you too?" Greg asked from the corner. He was eating ice cream out of the pot, something Sara hadn't seen him do in years.

"Yeah. Eli didn't want me to come in. He thinks I'm going to get hurt." Sara shook her head to try and shake Eli's cries out of her ears.

"It took me half an hour to get out of the door." Greg admitted. "After I'd told Lindsey all the details about everything twice."

"Lindsey?"

"Oh, yeah. Catherine's daughter is my babysitter. Is that weird?"

"A little." Sara laughed lightly. "Isn't she studying to be a nurse?"

"Yeah, which means that she knows what to do if Reubs has a seizure." Greg shoved a massive scoop of ice cream down his throat.

"Greg, relax. They'll be fine." Sara put a hand on his hand.

"I just miss them already." Greg moaned. "I'm so jealous of Nick right now."

"They'll be fine." Sara smiled.

"Ah! Brain freeze!" Greg spluttered, setting down his ice cream.

"Right, assignments..." DB walked into the room.

Greg left the break room ten minutes later and walked towards the exit.

"Look, I want to talk to Stokes!" A man shouted at Judy, who was standing her ground.

"Sir, if you don't leave right now, I will have to call security."

"For God's sake, I need to talk to Nicholas Stokes!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Greg frowned, walking up.

Instantly the man turned on him, shoving a pointed finger in Greg's face. "I want to talk to Nick Stokes and I want to talk to him now!"

Despite being towered over by the man, Greg squared his shoulders. "Why do you want to talk to him?"

"That's none of your business you little punk-"

"Security!" Greg and Judy called as the man pushed Greg backwards.

"I'm warning you, there will be hell to pay if-"

"There is no way in hell that you are talking to Nick when you're acting like this. No. Way. In. Hell." Greg shook his head.

The man looked slightly shocked.

"Not unless you tell me exactly why you are here." Greg demanded

** CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Hello?"

_"Nick, its Russell. We gotta problem."_

"What, what's wrong? Is everyone okay?"

_"Greg's in hospital with a broken nose, but that's not the problem. John Adamson is out of prison."_

"Based on what!?" Nick cried.

_"Based on the fact that Cassie wasn't a minor when she got pregnant and Adamson claimed it was all a game until she got cold feet."_

"Nobody would fall for-"

_"And based on the fact that the judge who put him away in the first place was sleeping with his wife."_

"Son of a bitch!" Nick swore.

_ "Tell me about it. We're trying to find stuff to put him back where he belongs but the DVD's gone."_

"What?"

_"There's been a break in at the evidence locker, no one else saw anything."_

"Son of a bitch!" Nick repeated, massaging his forehead.

_"That's not everything."_

"Oh, great."

_"Adamson's on the rampage looking for you. Greg got in his way, ended up getting his nose broken."_

"Greg got in the way?"

_ "Wouldn't let him anywhere near you or your details."_

"Shit, Greg..."

_"He's okay. Just be on the lookout, Nick."_

"I gottcha." Nick walked into the living room and picked Kristy up out of her little Moses basket. Rosa stood up, a frown on her face. "Her dad's out of prison." Nick explained hoarsely.

A loud bang erupted on Nick's door. "Stokes!"

Nick's face hardened and he went into protective overdrive. He pressed Kristy into Rosa's arms. "Go upstairs, stay quiet."

"Nick-"

"Go!" Nick insisted. Rosa nodded and flew up the stairs. Nick walked slowly up to the door as it shook with a loud knock.

"STOKES!" Nick wrapped his hand around his gun. He slipped the chain across the door and opened it slightly.

"Who are you and what so you want?" Nick growled.

"I wanna talk to you." He man said, taking a step back. "You've got my daughter and I'd like to take her."

"I know what you did to Cassie, there's no way that you're going anyway near her."

"Stokes, I didn't do anything! It was all consensual! It was just a game!"

"A game?" Nick yelled.

"She wanted to do this!"

"You sick bastard!" Nick shoved the door shut but Adamson shoved his leg in the door.

"Just let me see the kid I'm gonna be fighting for."

"You're not going to ever go within a hundred feet of her!"

Upstairs, Kristy began crying and Adamson stared up at the ceiling longingly. Nick took the opportunity to shove the door closed. Adamson shouldered the door and rammed it open, the flimsy chain straining to the max.

"Are you crazy? You'll never even be allowed to see her if you do anything criminal!"

"Who says I'm gonna see her legally? My daughter is crying, let me in!" He crashed against the door again.

"Leave, right now! I'm warning you, I'm armed!" Nick warned.

"So am I!"

Nick jumped as a bullet shot through the door. He ducked and ran away from the door, heading upstairs and grabbing his radio. When he finished the door burst open and Nick raced into his bedroom. Rosa was standing behind the wardrobe, shaking.

"It's okay." Nick mouthed, shoving his bed against the door. Shots started firing through the wall. Nick dragged Rosa and Kristy into the cupboard. "Stay here, hide! You're gonna be okay." Rosa nodded.

Nick slipped into the en-suite, sneaking out of the last door and hitting him on the head with the butt of his gun. John grunted and elbowed him in the stomach. Nick cried out and doubled over, smashing Adamson in the head as he did so. They struggled for a minute before Nick managed to knock Adamson to the floor and the gun out of his hand.

Nick dragged the larger man's hands behind his back, wiping the blood out of his eye with his shoulder.

"Stay down, asshole!" Nick hissed. Adamson scowled.

"Well I'm glad you're all okay." Vartaan shook his head minutes later. "But this whole saving CSI and family thing is getting old."

Nick nodded absently, cradling Kristy in his arms and staring at her.

"Nick?" Rosa asked softly.

"I'm okay, Rosa." Nick said in an even softer tone.

"Nick, you may need to get checked out.

"I'm okay." Nick shook his head.

"Okay..." Vartaan shook his own head. "If you say so."

Catherine ran up to the house, fear in her eyes. "Nick? _Lou?"_

"Catherine." Lou nodded.

"What the hell happened?"

When Nick said nothing Lou explained, and Catherine's face clouded in anger. "Son of a bitch!"

"Well, there's no way that he's not going away for good now." Lou shook his head. "I'll catch you later."

Catherine nodded, and followed Nick and Rosa back into the house.

"Nick, you at least need a shower." Catherine insisted. "I can help clean up."

"I'll do that." Rosa insisted. "You look after Kristy."

"Are you sure?"

Rosa nodded. "I'm not leaving next week."

Catherine smiled and Nick had to shake his head at the incredible speed at which his surrogate mother and childhood nanny had formed a firm friendship. He reluctantly passed Kristy over to Catherine and moved into the bathroom. When he came out, the faint sound of singing filled his ears.

_"Grew up in a small town_

_And when the rain would fall down_

_I'd just stare out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be, _

_and if I'd end up happy_

_I would pray (I would pray)_

_Trying hard to reach out_

_But when I tried to speak out_

_Felt like no one could hear me_

_Wanted to belong here_

_But something felt so wrong here_

_So I prayed I could break away_

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly

_I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky_

_And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Wanna feel the warm breeze_

_Sleep under a palm tree_

_Feel the rush of the ocean_

_Get onboard a fast train_

_Travel on a jet plane, far away _

_And breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky_

_And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change,_

_And breakaway_

_Buildings with a hundred floors_

_Swinging 'round revolving doors_

_Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but_

_Gotta keep moving on, moving on_

_Fly away, breakaway..."_

Nick listened from the semi darkness as Catherine sang to his daughter.

_"I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye_

_I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change,_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget the place I come from_

_I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change_

_And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway..."_

"So that's why you left Cath?"

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I had to, Nicky."

"I know." His throat felt blocked so he swallowed and blinked. "Thanks for coming back, even for a holiday, Catherine."

She tried to smile. _"I won't forget the place I come from." _

Nick gave her a huge hug.

"Yeah. I'll remind you of that the next time you and your FBI goons come to steal one of our cases."

**Building up. Nearly here I swear! (Also, sorry for lack of Reuben and Loeila here, they'll be back next chapter, if you want them ;))**

**Review! You know you want to (even if you hate this story with every atom of your being!)**


	8. Chapter 8: Life Goes On

**Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed so far! I love hearing from every one of you. Sorry for the slight delay – ive had loads of homework and The Best I Ever Had my other story is on a roll. This chapter is a bit of a filler and a set up but I know where I'm going so all is good :-) **

**All mistakes are mine. **

**Read, Enjoy Review! **

**Chapter Eight # Life Goes On #**

Two and a half months later, Nick went back to work. It took him a little while to get back into the swing of things, especially since Catherine had been forced to leave with the sincere promise of returning for Christmas. By the second week he felt like it was working.

Sara had eventually managed to convince Eli that she was okay by continuously coming home in one piece. There had been a small drama when it was time for him to go back to kindergarten, though.

_ "Okay, Eli, I'll see you later." Grissom smiled, hugging the little boy. Sara had desperately tried to get off work but she was stuck in a room with a suspect who would only talk to her on a missing persons case and they were running out of time. _

_"No!" Eli cried when Grissom tried to let go. _

_"You gotta go with your teacher now, Eli."_

_ "Please, no!" Eli begged as his teacher came closer. "I don't wanna go to school, I wanna go home!"_

_ "Frankie said you like your teacher." _

_"I do but I wanna stay at home!" _

_"Why?" Grissom asked. _

_"I don't wanna go!" _

_The teacher reassured Grissom that it was normal after trauma, but it still physically hurt Grissom's heart to hear the little boy wailing as he was taken away. Two hours later the teachers gave up and called Sara at work. When she arrived Eli was crying and screaming for his mommy, perched on top of a cupboard. _

_"How did he get up there?" She asked as she ran in. _

_"Another child cut her knee; I had to turn my back on him for a minute." The teacher sighed regretfully. _

_Sara nodded, and slowed as she walked up to the wailing five year old. "Eli?" _

_He didn't even glance down at Sara as he screamed. "I want my mommy!"_

_ "I know, but you gotta come down now." Sara said softly._

_Eli looked down and wiped his nose on his sleeve."Sara?" He snuffled as if it was finally sinking in that she was actually here. "Sara?" _

_"I'm here..."_

_ "Sara!" He wiped his eyes, but suddenly he realised how high he truly was and he began to wail once more. "Sara! Help me, I can't get down, I'm scared- I - I - I-" _

_"It's okay, Eli." Sara held up her arms. "I've got you." _

_"Sara!" He whimpered, leaning over the edge. He cried out as he tumbled off into her waiting arms. _

_"It's okay, Eli, I've got you." He sobbed into her hair and Sara took him straight home. She talked gently to Eli that night for hours and the next day there were no problems_.

Reuben had had a couple more seizures but none violent enough to hospitalise him. Both he and Loeila had grown considerably, as had little Kristy, who was now four months old. There was a little drama in the Sanders household when both of the seven month old twins started teething, but both Lindsey and Greg managed it admirably.

So, seventeen weeks after Cassie McBride appeared at the crime lab, Nick stared up at the latest crime scene, a large family home in a gated community. Brass came out of the house and approached the CSIs, greener than anyone had seen him in a while.

"Ten dead." He said gruffly. "Mom, Dad, three daughters aged 17 years, 8 years and 3 months, four sons, 14 years old, 12 year old twins and 18 months and a nanny."

"Oh my god..." Sara covered her mouth as if she wanted to be sick, and the others stared at the floor.

After Brass set the scene for DB, the supervisor took control. "Okay, Sara, I want you with Mom and Dad in the master bedroom. Nick, you take the eldest daughters room, next door to mom and dad on the right, the eight year old is in there too. Greg, you cover the fourteen year old and the nanny, there're in the third room. Morgan, can you take the twins. Finn, Wendy, I want you two to deal with the rest of the house. I'll take the babies."

Everyone nodded mutely and began to work on their allotted rooms. There was dismally little evidence to find, despite the CSIs combing through the house with a fine toothed comb for eight hours.

Exhausted, they returned to the crime lab and began dropping off evidence into various labs. After another three hours of processing they met in the layout room to discuss what they had.

"So what have we got?" DB asked almost reluctantly.

"There were no fingerprints at all throughout the house, someone has cleaned everything. There were some hairs that could possibly belong to our killers, and Henry's testing that and all the blood pools in case some of it doesn't belong to the family but at first glance we're not about to get lucky. There was a powdery blue trace on the victims; Hodges is running it now, along with some broken glass Wendy found in the living room. Morgan and Finn found matching shoe treads belonging to a pair of size eleven Doc Martens both inside and outside of the house that weren't a match to any of the shoes we collected in the house. Other than that there's not very much evidence at all." Sara summarised.

"Also, all the bodies were placed in each room post mortem. They were all killed in the parent's bedroom, and tied up before that. Apart from the babies." Wendy pointed out.

"I did find a little recording device in Bethany, the 17 year olds room." Nick interjected. "It gives a fairly good timeline." He put a small recorder and pressed play.

_"Okay, go!" a teenagers voice began_

_"Um...what do I say again?" A younger voice asked. _

_"Your name!" the first girl hissed. _

_"Oh, right! I'm Lara Rodgers and I'm eight years old. I'm gonna be singing with my big sister Bethany Rodgers. She's seventeen. Is that okay?"_

_"Perfect, Lara!"_

_After a few seconds pause the girls began singing. Suddenly, Lara screamed. _

_There were several other screams and scuffling noises and suddenly all the noises were muffled. _

"Archie thinks this is when they were taken into the parent's room." Nick added, letting the tape continue.

_It sounded like all ten people were crying. _

_"What are you doing?" a strong but afraid male voice – Kevin Rodgers, the father – cried. Then two of the cries ceased_.

"They suffocated the babies first..." Nick commentated sadly.

_Two gunshots rang out and fresh wails emphasised the nothingness that came from Lara's cries. _

"Lara was shot next, point blank in the head, dead before she hit the floor. Then the twins, Joey and Jay were hung. Bethany and Matt, the teenagers' throats were slit after that if we go by the screams or lack of. Then the nanny was shot, back of the head. Then the mom, Ashley was raped and stabbed and then about an hour later, dad Paul Rodgers was shot in the stomach and left to bleed out staring at his dead wife and children. The anonymous 911 call was made half an hour after he was shot, according to the tape."

There was silence for a moment.

"That's horrible." Sara's voice broke slightly.

"I think it's pretty safe to assume that the father was the primary target." Russell sighed. "They made him watch his family die."

Greg curled his hands around a paper cup. His phone felt like it was burning in his pocket. "S'cuse me." He stood up quickly and strode out of the room, flying into the locker room. He banged his head against his locker for a second, before ripping his phone out of his pocket.

_ "Hello, Sanders Household_?"

"Lindsey, it's Greg."

_"Hi Greg. Is everything okay?"_

"Yeah, yeah, I just...are the twins okay?"

_"Yeah they're asleep, they're fine." Greg heard the door open. "Yep. Both absolutely fine." _

"Thanks Lindsey. I may be a little late tonight."

_"No problem."_

Greg said goodbye to his faithful babysitter and hung up the phone, returning to the layout room.

"Sorry." He sat down.

"No problem." Russell nodded, understanding. "So, any enemies?"

Morgan's phone buzzed before DB had even finished talking. She glanced at the caller ID and frowned. "Russell, can I take this?"

"Yeah." Russell nodded. Morgan made an apologetic face and left the room. Five minutes later she came back into the room.

"That was Lucas O'Conner."

Russell's eyebrows widened. "Really?"

"Who?" Wendy frowned.

"A guy that I helped back in LA, he's a gang go between, takes messages, drugs, guns between the gangs. He's turned informant, and he says he's got information but he can't say over the phone. He's being watched and his lengthy phone calls are being monitored."

"So how is he giving you information?" Greg asked suspiciously.

"He wants to go on a date."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

The clock read five past one as a pretty, petite blonde waited outside of a nondescript Italian Restaurant. A Texan man pushed past her, laughing, his arm around a woman with curly blonde hair. A few moment later short, wiry man turned up.

"Hey."

The petite woman smiled "Hey, you."

"Shall we go in?" The man looked nervous.

"Sure." They took a table two tables away from the Texan and his apparent girlfriend.

"So, what have you got for me?" Morgan asked in a low tone.

"First things first. Where's your back-up?"

"The loud mouth Texan and his girl." Morgan's mouth twitched. She didn't mention Greg and Sara sitting on the other side of the diner.

"Wow, she's hot..."

"Hey, Lucas. Eyes on me!"

"Sorry." The guy looked sheepish.

"Info, dude, or this date's over."

"Okay. Slow down..." Morgan waited patiently as Lucas continued. "I knew Paulie, he was a good guy. Wasn't in with the gangs, not one little bit. Then his good for nothing brother, Lennie, shows up, gets in with the Dragons to a whole heap of shit with the Chimeras." O'Conner explained. "Drugs, chicks, guns, the whole lot. So anyways, the other day Lennie calls Paul, all drunk and shitting bricks 'cause he's just been in a gunfight off the strip, so being the good brother Paulie goes to pick Lennie up. On the way back, Lennie freaks when he sees a minibus with Jose Martinez, head of the Chimeras, and his family and they ended up crashin'. Jose's girl and his kid died, Jose saw the whole damn thing. So Lennie convinces Paul to drive on or he'll get shot, then flips on his brother. I'd bet my ass that Jose Martinez had something to do it."

"Okay..." Morgan said slowly. "Why are they watching you so close?"

"Coz I'm a go between. They always think I'm up to something."

Morgan nodded. "Thanks. Jose Martinez, head of the Chimeras. Did they report the accident?"

Lucas snorted. "Like hell! Jose wouldn't let the cops take his family away. He's very protective over them."

"You said his kid died? How old is Martinez?"

"Like thirty somethin'. Has five kids now he lost little Calíope."

"Five kids? Isn't that a lot for a gang leader?"

"He's a family man 'bove all else. He was married to Lana an' all. I think his oldest is like seven. Calíope was four."

"Any ideas where I can find him?"

"Nope, sorry. The Chimeras move a lot."

Morgan nodded. "Anything else? Any ideas where he might have buried his wife and daughter, it might help..."

"He took the bodies back to Mexico with his kids and buried 'em someplace secret. Didn't even tell his men. He came back yesterday."

"And the Rodgers' were killed." Morgan nodded.

"Yep. An' Paul had nothin' to do with it."

A wave of sympathy threatened to smother Morgan as she realised what the poor man had gone through.

"Jesus..." she shook her head. "Nice talkin' to you, Lucas but if you don't have anything else, I gotta go..."

"I'll call you if I hear anything." Lucas nodded.

Morgan stood up. "Great."

Lucas stood up next to her and kissed her on the cheek. Sara and Greg also stood up and began walking towards the table hand in hand.

A gunshot ran out through the diner and the patrons screamed in horror. Lucas O'Conner fell to the floor, a gunshot wound in his head and several more shots fired. Without a moment's hesitation Greg launched across a nearby table and knocked a shocked Morgan to the floor.

After a few moments the gunshots stopped.

"Are you okay?" Greg asked Morgan shakily, still pinning her to the floor.

Morgan looked across at O'Conner's empty eyes and the blood pouring from the hole in the forehead. She put a hand to her stomach.

Greg grabbed her bloody hand. "Oh my god! Nick, Sara, Finn!"

When he received no response Greg looked up. The others were still down low, hands on guns. "What's wrong, G?"

"Morgan's hit!"

"M'okay." Morgan mumbled, shaking her head.

Breathing heavily, Greg pulled up Morgan's top slightly with extreme care to reveal a hole just above her hip.

"Oh my god!"

"Greg m'fine..." she murmured, sighing, her eyes fluttering dangerously.

"Uh uh, Morgan, you need some help." Greg swallowed. Sara and Finn crawled over as Nick began reached for his radio.

"Ow..." Morgan whimpered as Greg put his hands on the wound.

"Sorry, Morgan. You've gotta stay awake for me, okay?"

Morgan nodded wearily, wincing in pain. Her hand flew up into the air. Sara placed her hands next to Greg's and pushed them away gently, taking over from Greg's hands. He looked at her and she leaned in close.

"Take her hand, Greg."

Greg nodded, reaching over and taking a hold of Morgan's flying hand. Morgan smiled wanly, afraid of going to sleep.

"You're gonna be okay." Greg smiled.

She nodded. "I know."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Four and a half hours later, Greg arrived home. "Lindsey, I am so sorry."

The tired brunette shook her head. "It's fine. Is Morgan okay?"

"She's gonna be fine." Greg reassured Lindsey.

"Good. I remember the shifts, Greg. It's fine." Lindsey nodded.

"This is looking like it's gonna be a big case."

"Then I'll be on call." Lindsey smiled.

"Thank you." Greg smiled back. Lindsey left the house with a wave.

As the door closed, Loeila started cry. Exhausted, but yearning to see his kids Greg headed into their bedroom.

"Hey, guys..." Greg lifted the seven month old out of his crib. After five minutes of solid crying, Greg started to worry.

"What's wrong, Lola, hey?" Greg muttered. He glanced down at Reuben, who was lying on his stomach chewing on a teething ring. "My mom would probably sing to you, but I don't think that any of my songs would fit..."

Loeila continued to cry.

_"Don't look down, don't look back,_

_I am beside you. _

_Close your eyes, know I'm here..."_ Greg sang quietly.

_"I know it's hard, to let go all that defines you_

_You feel like you'll never be whole again."_ Deciding to leave out the screaming part of the song Greg delved straight into the chorus.

_"In my arms, you'll be fine_

_I never let go_

_All you've lost, will come again._

_Just stay with me._

_Never look back, never again, it's over. _

_Everything ends, here in my arms." _

Loeila slowly stopped crying. She smiled and opened her mouth. That moment immediately imprinted in Greg's mind for the rest of his life.

"Dada!"

**I just realised that there was no Kristy in this chapter, sorry :-( in fact there was little of the babies at all! I'll make up for it next chappy I swear!**


	9. Chapter 9: Revelations and Bombs

**Thanks for all my lovely reviewers! I am so sorry about the lack of little Kristy in the previous chapter :-( **

**For anyone who wants to know, that song was "In My Arms" by Dead By April. Tis an awesome song and it inspired this fic, in fact.**

**Okay, this plot is already more complex in my mind then most of them at this point and I know almost exactly where I'm going (though reviewing does influence the plot a lot in my case) so keep your eyes open for details – I would love to hear any theories!**

**So sorry for mistakes - once again quick update before bed = no time to proof read :-(**

**WARNING - THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS STRONG (NECESSARY) LANGUAGE :-( SORRY! **

**Read, Enjoy, Review. **

**Chapter Nine # Revelations and Bombs # **

"Quit? You want to quit?"

"Yessir. I want to transfer to the FBI." Lisa Cooke crossed her fingers behind her back.

"And you want to do this, why?"

"I'm sick of living a lie. Sir."

"You want to go and live a happy life with your children?" Her cynical boss sneered.

"No. I would just hurt them more. But I want the possibility of a future. I want out."

"For fuck's sake. You weren't supposed to get pregnant, Cooke! You were just supposed to sleep with the guy! Get into a relationship for a few days."

The question that had been eating at her for over a year left her mouth for the first time. "Why?"

"Classified information." Was the smug reply.

"I led the guy on, I took advantage of him and he seems like a really nice guy. Why?"

"I'm not going to tell you that, Cooke so you may as well stop trying."

"Look, I feel bad for what I did, which is one of the reasons I'm leaving, I can't take it anymore."

It took her a while to convince her asshole of a boss to let her go but eventually a brand new identity was pressed into her hands.

Within days she dyed her hair dark brown and took out the green contacts she wore during her time in the CIA to reveal her bright blue eyes.

The next day she walked into the bright shiny building and felt her ID in her bag. She had chosen her childhood name along with the surname of an old friend and her friend Pete had come up with a past for her.

Her new, seemingly friendly boss, Kevin Butler, stood outside a door "So, this will be your partner, she'll teach you everything you need to know. She's also quite new but don't worry, she has a lot of experience with crime solving. She was an amazing CSI and once headed one of the best crime labs in the country, apart from ours. However, she's only been here about a year months. A damn fast learner though so you're in good hands, but coming from the CIA you must be quick too, right?"

She nodded. Her job details had been left out but the bureau knew where she had come from. Butler held open the door and a strawberry blonde woman smiled at her.

She outstretched her hand. "Alyssa Brown."

"Catherine Willows, welcome aboard."

"Thanks." She smiled. "I'm happy to be here."

"CIA, right?"

"Yeah. You were a CSI?" Catherine nodded, studying her for a moment. The new woman shifted. "Is that gonna be a problem."

"No. No..." Catherine grinned. "I'm sorry."

After working together for a week, the two women became firm friends. Alyssa, as she once again referred to herself as, was happy. She was acting like herself, her name was half right. She felt honest, and she loved it.

She also loved Catherine. The woman was witty, sassy, smart, dangerous... And she was fiercely loyal. She often spoke fondly of the CSIs, lab techs and coroners she had left behind and Alyssa knew all of their names. Nick, Sara, Greg, DB, Morgan, Al, David, Hodges, Mandy, Wendy, Henry, Bobby... Her new partner kept a couple of photographs on her desk but the only two Alyssa had seen were of Lindsey, Catherine's daughter, and a dark skinned man called Warrick, who had died years ago, according to Catherine.

When she heard that one of Catherine's former colleagues was called Greg, Alyssa worried, but though Catherine had mentioned that the man had children, she hadn't specified anything and besides, Greg wasn't that rare a name.

God, Alyssa felt so good to be sharing _true _stories of her childhood, her friends, her family...

She walked into their shared office on her third week and nodded at Catherine who was on the phone. "...that's great! Oh, congratulations kiddo! Give them hugs and kisses from me." Catherine laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm the favourite. Yeah, I'll speak to you soon and see you at Christmas. Yeah, love you too. Bye."

"Who was that?" Alyssa asked curiously.

"Greg. His baby girl's started talking!"

"Oh, wow!" Alyssa grinned genuinely. "That's great."

"Come here, I'll show you a picture."

Alyssa walked round and Catherine pointed at her computer background.

Alyssa's heart stopped beating. A group of people were all laughing, trying to sit on a sofa. "This was taken a few weeks ago, on my vacation. That's Nick Stokes, his adopted daughter Kristy, Sara Sidle, Gil Grissom and Eli Brown, their adopted son...his dad was a good friend. Then that's Morgan Brody, DB Russell, me, obviously and Julie Finlay, who I never actually worked with. And that's Greg Sanders, the guy I was talking to, and his twins. Reuben and Loeila. They're my CSI family." She laughed softly.

"Reuben and Loeila...They're beautiful names." Alyssa murmured.

"I know. Their mom didn't name them, she didn't care at all. Ran away with some other guy, dumped Greg with a pair of gorgeous 3 month olds that he didn't know existed...I have no idea how she could have done it but..."

"Maybe she had a reason..."

"She was a junkie." Catherine shook her head. "Greg always falls for the bad ones."

Alyssa's heart sank even further. "Al...always?"

"Yeah. Fell for a woman named Ellen Whitebridge a few years back. She pretended to be interested in him and turned out to be a murderer trying to get access to his files. Nearly got him killed."

Alyssa stared at the laughing man frozen in time, a little girl on his hip and a baby boy balancing on his knee. "They're beautiful..."

"Yeah... I'm Reuben's godmother."

"Really? Good." Alyssa said before she could stop herself.

"What?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if he has no mom, he's lucky to have such an amazing godmother." She quickly said.

"I guess."

Something that had been eating at her for months had to escape from Alyssa's system. "So if he didn't know about them for the first three months they weren't abused or anything?"

"No, but Reuben was exposed to enough drugs to increase his risk of epilepsy by fifty percent. My daughter is actually their babysitter, she's training to be a nurse."

"What did Loeila say?"

"Dada." Catherine grinned. "According to Linds she's a real daddy's girl."

"I'll bet." Alyssa smiled sadly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Alyssa Brown, I've been a trained observer since I left high school, I know when something is wrong."

"I thought you were a stripper straight out of high school?"

"When you're a dancer you have to observe people's behaviour to know how to get enough cash. It's not quite as simple as shaking your booty around. But don't avoid the question."

"It's nothing." Alyssa shook her head. "I just...I had twins once. They...they live with their dad. He didn't think they'd be safe if I kept them, because of my job, y'know."

Catherine looked horrified. "God, I'm so sorry. Me and my big mouth!"

"It's fine. You couldn't have known." Alyssa smiled.

"I just couldn't do it."

"It was really hard." Alyssa nodded, staring at Greg's face on the computer screen. "But I made the right choice."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

The whole team were severely pissed off when the case went officially cold a month later with Jose Martinez, Lennie Rodgers and both gang's involved were all in the wind. Even without Morgan being shot it had been an extremely personal case, and when one of their own got hit they all wanted to kill the guys that did it. Morgan was back to work in a couple of weeks, but everyone still kept an eye on her and despite her craving for independence, she was grateful.

One month after the case was officially declared cold they got a lead. A long scream followed by a peal of delighted laughter announced that Greg had brought his children to the lab.

"_Dada!" Loeila laughed as he changed Reuben's diaper. Life as a single dad wasn't easy but he was coping, and well. _

_"What?" _

_"Ngy!" _

_"Hungry?"_

_ "Da!" _

_"Well your gonna have to wait then." Picking up on the gist of what her father was saying Loeila pouted and immediately began crawling determinedly towards the kitchen. _

_As Greg had baby proofed his apartment he wasn't too fussed, he'd get her in a minute. When he was done with Reuben he left the little boy on his changing mat for a second before jogging into the kitchen. _

_His mouth dropped open when he entered the room. The apple juice and orange juice cartoons that had been sitting on the kitchen table weren't there anymore. A pool of orange covered most of the table and was dripping continuously onto the floor. That carton had been discarded by Loeila who was now using her two tiny hands to suck the apple juice out of the large 1 litre carton. _

_Snapping a quick picture on his phone, Greg shook his lead. "Lola!" _

_"Dood dirl!" She smiled sweetly. _

_"No, not good girl." He shook his head and took the apple juice off her. _

_"No! Ummy!" _

_"Not yummy, bad for you! You're eight months old." _

_She blinked innocently. "Dood dirl." _

_"Ah!" Greg pointed at the empty orange juice carton. "What happened to that one?"_

_ "Yucky!" Loeila protested as he held it in front of her face. "No!" She pushed it away. _

_"How'd you get up their anyway? God, you're all sticky!" Greg sighed. "You're gonna have to have a bath now!" _

_He picked her up and went into the living room, plucking Reuben off the floor. He popped both babies on the rug in the bathroom and started to run that water in the rub, making sure that he was only running lukewarm water. _

_He walked into the other room to grab a pair of towels. When he walked back in, Loeila was gripping the side of the tub, standing on wobbly legs. He walked as she started to climb up the bathtub._

_ "Hold on, Lola!" He cried, picking her up before she tumbled in. "Phew." _

_He ran into the adjoining bedroom when the phone rang. "Hello?" _

Splash!

_"Hey Greg, its-" _

_"Reuben!" Greg cried, running into the room and dropping the phone on the bed. He scooped the other baby out of the bath and ran back into the bed room. Both babies were crying as he picked up the phone. "Sorry, hello?" _

_"Hi, its Morgan...Greg is everything okay?" _

_"Yeah, now, I think. They're both climbing. Loeila spilt orange juice all over the kitchen and Reuben fell in the bath and its a nightmare and-" _

_"Okay, okay!" Morgan laughed. "Do you wanna hand?" _

_"Please!" Greg laughed. _

_"I'll be there in five."  
_  
Loeila squealed in delight and ran around the corner as fast as her little legs could carry her in a little pink top Nick had got her which said 'Cowboy Princess' and it and a diaper.

Greg followed closely behind and groaned softly to himself as she bumped into the Sherriff's legs and fell promptly onto her backside.

"Uh oh."

"Hello." The Sherriff smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Um ma ma ma..." Loeila put her hand in her mouth.

"I'm really sorry!" Greg insisted as he jogged up.

Loeila saw him and giggled again, pushing herself up and starting to run again.

"Loeila!"

She turned and grabbed the Sherriff's legs, hiding behind the woman.

"I am so sorry."

"It's okay..." The Sherriff shook her head at the adorable baby trying to play chase. Greg reached around and grabbed Loeila quickly. He swung her up onto his hip.

"What is she doing in a crime lab, Mr. Sanders?"

"Her babysitter is going on holiday to Hawaii and I've been pulling a double so she dropped Loeila and her brother off here. I'm sorry, about that she's just a bit of a handful."

"How old is she?"

"Nine months."

"And she can run?" The Sherriff's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah. Her brother's not far behind her."

"Dada Lola wan Odges!"

"She can talk?"

"Uh yeah." Greg shifted her on his hip.

"Well, I'll let you get on." The Sherriff nodded with a smile and Loeila hit her dad on the head.

"Oges!"

"Fine, fine. You bully me, you know!"

To everyone's shock, Loeila had formed a huge bond with Hodges, her godfather. No one expected it, including the lab tech himself but Loeila loved the man and he was always happy to see her.

"Hodges, your biggest fan is here!"

"Hey Lola!" Hodges smiled.

"Odges!" She squealed, reaching out to him. Hodges took her from Greg onto his own hip and continued to look down the microscope.

"I'm just gonna go get Reubs off of Henry, will you watch her for a minute please?" He asked Hodges.

"Of course."

Greg ran back through the lab. "Henry-"

"We got a match."

"What?"

"Reuben and I, we were running the blood from the Rodgers case through the database again and we got a match."

"Really?" Greg ran up to the screen.

"Yeah... Reuben thought of searching the bone marrow database."

"Wait, my nine month old son told you to run a drop of blood from a two month old crime scene through the bone marrow database?"

"Bow mawo." Reuben sang. "Bow mawo."

Greg's eyes widened. "You taught my baby how to say bone marrow?"

"He's a smart kid, I was talking to Mandy about Leukaemia the other day and he was listening. That child is just like a parrot. Anyway, we got a hit!"

"Who?"

"The unidentified blood at the crime scene belongs to Calliope Martinez."

"Jose Martinez's four year old was a bone marrow donor?"

"No, she was on the list for a transplant. She had leukaemia."

"Poor kid." Greg shook his head, stroking his son's hair. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if either of his kids got cancer.

The little boy was talking even more than Loeila, hence the "bow mawo", but he could still only toddle a few steps as oppose to her running. The doctors had assured him that it was completely normal, that it probably had nothing to do with the drugs and that Reuben was very advanced for his age anyway.

"I'll tell Russell."

"How would her blood get there anyway?" Henry frowned.

"According to O'Conner Calliope was (a) dead and (b) five years old at the time."

"Maybe a calling card? I don't know." Greg scooped up his son and ran down the corridor, yelling 'Russell'.

"Ba ba Hewy!" Reuben sang, bouncing on his father's hip. Henry waved back. As soon as Greg had delivered the news to Russell he headed back towards Hodge's lab.

He picked up Loeila and went to the exit. Strapping the twins into the car, Greg went around to the front seat.

"Excuse me! Hey, you!"

He turned to see a large, burly man jogging up to him.

"You work in there?"

"Yes. Can I help you?" Greg asked.

"I wanna find someone. Morgan Brody, you might know her?"

Instantly Greg was on the defensive. "I know her. What do you want with her?"

"I need to see her."

"About what?"

"Why is it your business?"

"Because she got hurt a couple of months ago and I don't want that to happen again so either tell me who the hell you are or I get security!"

The man's eyes narrowed, but not with the emotion Greg would have expected them two. "Cute kids. Is that Reuben and...was it Loeila?" Greg stood in front of the window. "Oh shit, I'm sorry for freaking you out, man, you must be Greg, right? I'm Joey Brody, I'm Morgan's little brother."

"Oh..." Greg relaxed a fraction. "Little?"

The guy laughed good naturedly. "Yeah. I got the growth gene."

"Okay."

"Look, I know you're a CSI so it's your job to be suspicious so here-" he pulled out his phone and showed Greg a bunch of pictures of a family Christmas with what seemed to be four siblings, including Joey and Morgan. "I just wanted to know when she's off work."

"Couldn't you have gone into the lab?"

Joey made a face. "Technically I'm Morgan's half brother. And mom might have got pregnant with me before the divorce."

"Ah."

"Conrad's never actually been cold to me, in fact he's always been real nice but I know he feels uncomfortable around me so when I saw to leave the lab I thought I'd grab you instead. You fit the description Mo gave of Greg Sanders."

"She gave you a description?" Greg grinned slightly.

"Oh yeah."

The doors opened and Morgan herself walked out she stopped short at the sight of the man. "Joey!"

"Hey, Mo." He hugged her tightly. "I just came to ask Greg when you were getting off. Shift, I mean."

She smacked him lightly. "As it happens, right now. What are you doing here?"

"Watching my little girl at her dance contest. Mia's eight." He added for Greg's benefit.

"Yeah. This is my younger brother who advises me about having safe sex and who gets his sixteen year old girlfriend pregnant."

"Hey, I did marry her."

"Three years later."

Greg laughed and Reuben's hand hit the window. "I think they want me to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Mo."

"Stop it! Now look what you've done. My name's _Morgan_."

Greg shook his head and looked at his two in the backseat. He pulled out of the parking lot.

"Beep!" Reuben sang. "Beep, beep, beep, beep!"

"What are you doing, huh?" Greg turned to look at his son who pointed at a flashing light beneath the passenger seat.

"Beep! Goes beep daddy!"

Beep, beep, beep...

A very unmistakeable beep. Greg slowed the car and peered under the seat.

Wires. Flashing lights. Beep. Beep. Beep. _Bomb?_

_Bomb! _

Greg screeched to a stop and flung open the door. He raced around and grabbed a Swiss army knife from his pocket, slicing through the car seat straps for Reuben, glancing at the timer.

30 seconds. He leaned over, sweating like a pig and ripped Loeila from her seat. He grabbed his kit and his kid in one motion and took one last glance. He wasn't overreacting.

Morgan and Joey froze, halfway towards his car. Greg kicked his bag under a nearby Buick, gathered his kids under his arms and ran towards them.

"There's a bomb! Get down!" He screamed, counting down in his head as they hit the deck.

Five, four, three, two, one...

Thrown by the force of the explosion, Greg Sanders hit the floor.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"Bye, Rosa. Have fun!" Nick grinned and waved goodbye to his nanny, who was taking a trip to Texas to visit her friends and family.

He walked back inside the house and looked at Kristy. His daughter.

"We haven't spent any time together in a while, have we?" he asked rhetorically. She blinked and smiled slightly. Nick turned off his phone and unplugged the landline. "Today it's just you and me, beautiful."

She smiled as Nick walked over and lifted her into his arms, rocking her gently. He picked up a rattle and shook it slightly in front of her face. Her little hand reached up and held grabbed it. He laughed softly.

"Thatta girl. How about we go out today, a little trip to the park, maybe?"

Kristy smiled happily and Nick grabbed a coat for the both of them. Wrapping Kristy up in her warm pink coat and gently placing her into her pram, Nick left the house. He walked for hours with Kristy, talked to a few hot girls, a couple of younger families and then returned home, in a great mood. Arriving at his house he froze. His door was ajar. A loud crash sounded from inside the house.

"Hello?" Nick called, torn. He could charge in with Kristy and he couldn't leave her outside.

"Nick!" Sara ran out of his apartment, gloves on her hands. "Thank god!"

"What the hell is going on?" Nick asked as Sara hugged him and stroked the side of Kristy's face.

"Greg's in the hospital, Nick, he's been blown up." Her eyes were red and Nick could see the ghost of tears on her face.

"What?" Nick cried.

"Reuben and Loeila are in hospital too, the bomb was in his _car._"

"Oh my god..."

"He got them out and according to Morgan and her brother, whose visiting her right now, he was running towards them with his kids in his arms when the bomb went off. He's still in surgery."

"What about the twins?"

"Reuben's okay, a few small bruises and cuts. We haven't heard about Lola yet, Morgan's at the hospital with them."

"Oh, god! Why are you here, Sar? Why have you got gloves on?"

"We couldn't get hold of you. Nick, this all happened four hours ago! You weren't picking up your phones, Rosa was unreachable, I got here and your place was trashed."

"What?" Nick cried. _Four hours...place trashed..._

Kristy started to cry. Nick plucked her out of the pram at held her tightly.

"Unless you left stuff everywhere and broken glass on the floor and in Kristy's cot, then someone's been here. The door was open when I got here."

"I take it I can't go in there?" Nick ran a hand through his hair.

"Sorry." Sara shook her head.

"I'm gonna go to the hospital." Nick nodded.

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't forget to check in with Russell."

Nick nodded and did so as he got into his car. Driving to the hospital, all he could think of was how much of a little brother Greg had been to him over the years, and how grown up he was now.

If anything happened to him Nick would...would...

He had no idea.

He would curl up in a hole and cry for days, he would turn alcoholic, he would take in Greg's kids, he would tear the guys responsible limb from limb.

No option seemed attractive and Nick knew the exact singular reason why.

No Greg.

And he'd had his phone of for four hours. Greg had been in hospital for _four hours _whilst Nick was happily taking a walk in the park.

He raced to the hospital waiting room. Morgan, Grissom, Reuben and Eli were all already there.

"Hi Uncle Nicky. Uncle Greg's gotta owie." Eli said solemnly.

"Thank god you're okay." Morgan sighed, holding Reuben tightly.

"I am so sorry..." Nick shook his head.

A doctor walked into the room.

"Family of Greg and Loeila Sanders?"

**Ooh, what do you think?**


	10. Chapter10:Twas the Hell Before Christmas

**Hola! Sorry about that little cliffie :P Thanks for your reviews! It seems like you're all a little fond of Lola, lol! Read on to find out more! And please, please review! :-) **

**Read! Enjoy! Review! **

**Chapter Ten # T'was The Hell Before Christmas # **

"What am I gonna tell him?" Morgan sobbed.

Nick held Morgan tightly around Reuben and Kristy. "He's gonna be okay. They're all gonna be okay."

Grissom sat on the chair and stroked Eli's hair softly, worry evident on his face. Since Eli had been living with them he had begun to open up slightly, allowing his emotions too shine through slightly more.

"How are we gonna tell him his daughter's...his daughter's..."

The doctor's words rang in each of their ears.

_"...Mr. Sanders is stable, he is awake and likely to be conscious in less than an hour...Loeila is a different matter...we've done everything we can..." _

"Excuse me?" the nurse approached them timidly. "Mr. Sanders is awake now and he's asking for his children."

Grissom stood up. "Morgan, Nick, you two go ahead."

The two nodded and followed the nurse into a room.

"Greg..." Morgan shook her head.

"Two broken ribs, a gash in my side and a whole load of new burns to add to the collection on my back. I got a few bruises, cuts and scars but I'm fine, where's Loeila?" Greg said in one breath, reaching for Reuben.

As Morgan handed the baby over she took a deep breath. "Greg...Loeila...the doctors...she..."

Greg's heart stopped beating. "She's not... Morgan, Nick, she's not dead! She can't be, not Lola, she...She's my baby, Nicky please no!"

"She's alive, man. She's alive." Nick reassured him.

"Then what's wrong, Nick?"

"She got hit with a piece of the bomb, she has a broken arm and a couple of first degree burns on her back."

"What else, Morgan?" Greg edged, knowing there must be more.

"She...her head got hit, Greg, and it cut her face... badly...the doctor had to sedate her and she's so young that they don't know how she'll react. And they can't get rid of the scar."

Greg's heart thudded and stopped in his chest.

"No..." he whispered, his voice barely audible. "No, no, no, no, this can't be happening, no!"

"Greg, I'm sorry..." Nick's voice broke.

"She..." Greg looked up, horror in his eyes. "This is my fault."

"What? No, Greg-"

"If I'd noticed the bomb sooner, if I'd run faster, if I hadn't fell-"

Sensing his father's stress and wanting his sister Reuben started crying

"Greg!" Nick snapped. "This wasn't your fault. You didn't put the bomb in your car, you did get your kids out as fast as possible, and you ran as fast as you could."

Greg closed his eyes, pulling Reuben closer and pressing his face into his son's short, sandy blonde hair.

"What am I gonna do?" Greg asked in a vulnerable, almost childlike voice.

"We're gonna find this guy, Greg." Nick said firmly.

"That won't make it okay!" Greg whispered. "Not if she..."

"Greg! Don't think like that!" Morgan went pale.

Greg took a couple of deep breaths. "I want to see her. I need to see her now."

"Greg you're not allow-"

"Nick, I need to see her, lemme up!" He protested angrily as Nick pushed him down.

"I'll speak to the nurse, see if she can get Lola in this room, okay?" Morgan murmured comfortingly, leaving the room. Reuben's crying thankfully hadn't set of Kristy, but Nick put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"She's gonna be okay, man..."

The doctor walked in with Morgan.

"Mr. Sanders? How are you feeling?" Greg stared at the doctor who swallowed and continued. "Ms Brody informs me that you'd like your daughter to be in the same room as you?"

"Please."

"Nurse Mackenzie is bringing her now."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"She should be Mr. Sanders. But there's always a chance that something can go wrong with a child of her age, as I'm sure you're aware."

Greg stared at a crib that was wheeled into the room and sat up quickly. His mouth fell open as he saw his baby girl. An angry red gash stretched across her cheek, and her little arm was very red. She looked fast asleep, if you ignored the small oxygen mask covering her nose and mouth.

"Loeila..." Greg whispered, reaching out. Morgan took Reuben as Greg leaned across into the crib. His hand rested against the untouched side of his daughters face, his fingers trailing over the tiny cast.

"Why?" Greg's whisper was muffled. "Why?"

"We're gonna find out, Greggo, and we're gonna put this bastard behind bars." Nick swallowed.

Greg nodded absently, tears trailing down his face. Morgan sat down in the chair by Greg's side and Nick sighed.

"I'm gonna go back to the lab, see what Finn, Wendy and Russell have."

"Where's Sara?" Greg asked immediately.

"She's processing my place, someone broke in while I was at the park."

"What?" Greg's eyes left his daughter for a moment.

"I know as much as you."

Greg looked back at Loeila. "For god's sake, why?"

A nurse walked into the room, her lips pursed. Single dads. She hated them. Taking babies away from their mothers so soon, not knowing what to do. And she knew the type of her patient and it was her job to teach him about his baby's injuries.

She cleared her throat to "Mr. Sanders, your daughter's disfigurement-"

"It's not a disfigurement." He interrupted angrily. "She got hurt, she...she's scared but there's nothing wrong with her!"

The arrogant bastard. "Sir, she's in a hospital."

"I know, I didn't mean she's not...sick." the man swallowed. "But it's not...it's not like she's not ... still perfect..."

As his voice broke, so did the nurses preconceptions. _Misconceptions._

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sanders." She murmured. "I didn't mean to offend you." He just shrugged, stroking his daughters good cheek so she did her job and left.

"Okay, Greggo, I really gotta go, but call me if you need anything, man. Get better, okay, both of you." Nick put a hand on Greg's shoulder, kissed the twins, hugged Morgan and left, sending Grissom and Eli into Greg's room as he went.

When he got to his car he checked everywhere, including underneath the car and in the boot before finally strapping Kristy into her little car seat and leaving for the lab. When he got there he parked outside the crime tape.

"What have we got?" He called.

"A serious loathing of these bastards." Finn replied, taking a photo of a small pool of blood.

"And a whole heap of evidence." Russell added. "Good to see the two of you are okay. Wendy's helping Sara at your place but they should be done soon."

"Okay." Nick nodded.

"How's Lola?" Finn asked quickly.

Nick gravely explained the baby's status. "Jesus... If I get my hands on these assholes I swear to god, Jesus, the saints and Buddha that I will rip them limb from limb." She cursed.

Nick nodded "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Finn said gravely.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"But she's alive? You're all alive?" Catherine could hear Greg sniff on the end of the phone.

_"Yeah."_

"Good."

_"Catherine, her face...she's so small!" _

"Its going to be okay Greg, its okay." Catherine soothed Greg despite her pounding heart. It was eleven o'clock, she should have left the office hours ago, but she and Alyssa were working late again on a case that was tied up with some prisoners of war in Syria and she was determined to solve it.

_ "I just... I don't know what to do. What if she doesn't wake up?" _

"She will." Catherine said softly. Alyssa sat across from her, trying to look as if she wasn't listening. "Loeila's a tough girl. Just like her dad."

_"Thanks Cath_." Greg sighed. _"Its been a hell of a month_."

"I know." Catherine sighed. "But you'll pull through."

"Thanks." Catherine was just about to say something when two noises came into play down the phone. One, a gasp from Greg, and the other the most glorious noise Catherine had heard all day.

_"Catherine-" _

"I can hear." She beamed.

She listened down the phone to the sweet sound of Loeila Sanders crying.

** CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"Merry Christmas." Alyssa grinned as Catherine left the office on the 23rd of December. Their case had irritatingly gone cold just like the case in Vegas, and so Catherine was heading out for a vacation as planned.

"You too. Are you spending it with family?"

"Nope."

"Do you wanna come to Vegas?"

Alyssa smiled. _Say yes, say yes, say yes, see your babies!_ Her heart screamed, but Alyssa had been ignoring its whims for years. "No thanks. I'm meeting up with a friend on boxing day, so..."

"Okay." Catherine smiled. "Bye!"

"Oh, Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"You're friend Greg, does he know his kids birthdays?"

Catherine frowned. "Not the exact days. Why?"

"Well when I was looking up Oliver Parker's medical records I was on the hospital database and I thought I'd have a little look." She passed Catherine a sheet of paper. "I think this could be them."

"Thanks..." Catherine said, slightly shocked.

"I'm not stalking them or anything, I just think it's a great thing what he did and he deserves to know as much as possible. Think of it as a Christmas gift."

"Okay." Catherine smiled. "Thanks. I'll see you after New Year!"

"Merry Christmas!" They laughed at the same time.

The plane gave Catherine a long time to think. Loeila's injuries had almost completely healed in the last two months, but a large scar that the doctor said she may have for life stretched from her ear to the corner of her lip.

Regardless she was toddling around on her eleven month legs faster than ever, giving Greg hell whenever possible, though she was as good as gold for Lindsey. She was amazing at making a mess which Greg's mother found hilarious. Reuben was also doing really well. He couldn't quite keep up with his sister physically, but he was making a lot of progress. He was talking at the level of some two year olds and excelled at all of the little puzzles Greg and the others brought him. DB said that it was probably because Greg was clever. Nick said that that couldn't be the case - their mother was probably a secret genius.

Kristy, much to Nick's delight, was making completely average progress with life. No illness, no horrific accidents and she reached the normal baby milestones at the normal time, for example the eight month old was now sitting up on her own and crawling all over the place, responding to her name and babbling wordlessly. She had also formed a very strong attachment to a little blanket Greg had given her. It was baby blue and Greg had had a forensics emblem sewn onto the top right hand corner, and underneath it Greg had written _'For Kristy Stokes, with love your awesome Uncle Greg'_ in a fabric pen in his distinctive handwriting. He later admitted to asking his Nana Olaf to do the sewing.

Eli had also adjusted well. He doted on Sara and looked up to Grissom. Hank was his best friend, along with Jamie, the little boy next door, and he seemed to be happy with school and with home life. However according to Sara he still had nightmares and sometimes wet the bed, and when he was really tired he would cry for his mommy. Sara once told Catherine that in those times it took both Grissom and Sara a long time to console him.

Sara had shocked Catherine the most when Sara became a parent. The independent, workaholic brunette had managed to find a balance between home and work, for the first time since Catherine had known her. She always made sure Eli was safe and comfortable, she used time outs and TV bans to fairly discipline the little boy and she made sure he did the little bits of homework he had. She was the model working mother. _Sara Sidle_.

Catherine shook her head. She still couldn't believe it.

When she touched down at the airport, the Sanders family, including Lindsey, were all there to meet her. Upon seeing her auntie, Loeila squealed and strained against her baby reigns.

When Greg didn't let go she turned her disgruntled face to her father. "Aundie Cafin!"

"I know." Greg nodded.

She stuck out her bottom lip and the slight shift in the scar still sent shivers down Greg's spine.

"Peese dada!"

When Catherine was about a meter and a half away in the relatively uncrowded airport Greg let go of the reigns and Loeila pounded into Catherine's open arms.

"Hello baby girl!" Catherine grinned, kissing Loeila and cuddling her before embracing Lindsey and Reuben, who was Lindsey's arms and finally Greg.

"So you're staying at my place?" Lindsey clarified.

"And we're all going to Nick's Christmas day." Catherine nodded. "What if you get called in?"

"Day shifts got us covered. We promised them Easter and July 4th. Next year-"

"You swap, I haven't forgotten." Catherine swatted Greg playfully, Loeila still on her hip.

"Just checking in your old age and all." Greg's eyes twinkled.

"Watch it, Greg."

"Yeh-ah! Wach i' daddy!" Reuben giggled.

"Bullies!" Greg gasped. He sighed. "Nobody loves me."

"I wove you daddy!" Lola smiled and he couldn't help but take her off of Catherine.

"I love you too, beautiful."

Catherine laughed lightly and looped her arm around her own daughter's waist as Greg and Lola ran ahead. "So how are you liking nanny duty?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly." Catherine nodded.

"I love it. They're so clever and adorable it's just untrue. And my studying is going really well. I think it helps that you were on the job and I kinda get the shifts but Greg's a good boss. Pays fairly, well pretty well actually, and if he can't get home he'll call ahead. Yeah, he's a good boss."

"That sounds so strange." Catherine shook her head. "Greg, a boss."

"It's true." Her daughter grinned. "Oh and mom?"

"Yeah?"

"On the plane back from Hawaii, I met this guy..."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"What's that for?" Eli rubbed his tired eyes.

It was Christmas Eve and Sara had a bag of flour in her hands.

"Do you believe in Santa Claus, Eli?" Eli nodded solemnly. "Don't you?"

"Of course." Sara scoffed. "Well this is a Santa Trap."

"Will it hurt him?" Eli's eyes widened.

"No, no!" Sara looked almost as horrified as he was at the notion of hurting the mythical man.

"It's to get a foot print."

Eli's eyes lit up. "Evidence!"

"Exactly!" Sara winked.

"Oh, this is so cool!" He squeaked. "Can I dust his glass in the morning? With the green print powder you showed me? Then I could be just like you and my daddy!"

"You know what? That sounds like a great idea!" Sara smiled.

They sprinkled the flour outside the door along with some "reindeer food" Grissom had made with Eli that morning – dried oats, crunched up Weetabix, little chunks of carrot and glitter as per Eli's request 'So that the reindeers can see it.'

Then they carefully put a mince pie, a homemade cookie with Santa's face on it from Eli and a glass of milk on a tray by the front door.

"Mommy gave Santa rum." Eli bit his lip. "Will he like milk?"

Sara pursed her lips. "Well, I guess if everyone gives him a little rum then he'll get drunk and be over the limit and then-"

"-he could be arrested by Uncle Brass for drink driving!" Eli looked horrified. "Can we put a bucket of water out for the reindeers? They can drink it and throw it at him if he gets very drunk!"

Sara laughed. "Okay, sounds like a plan. How do you know so much about drink driving anyway?"

"Mommy's friend Paul was driving in the car once and it went skidding everywhere and mommy screamed he was drunk and threw water on him. She said he could get arrested or get us killed, but I thought. It was fun. He didn't come over again after that."

Sara nodded and Eli looked up at the stars.

"Is my mommy up there?"

"I think so."

Eli sighed softly. "I miss her. Sara?"

"Yeah?" Sara murmured softly.

"Is it this cold in heaven?"

"I don't know." Sara frowned. It was a good question, for a kid who believed in heaven.

"I hope so. Mommy liked the cold. But I hope she has a fluffy coat." Eli reasoned.

He sat down on the floor and stared up at the sky some more. Sara watched the sky with him for a while before she started getting too cold.

"Okay, Eli, let's go in now. It's getting late and cold, and Santa can't come if you're not in bed."

Eli sighed softly again, staring at his breath flying from his mouth and curling up into the sky. He slid his hand into Sara's and leaned against her leg, following her inside with a last glance at the yard.

"G'dnight Grissom!" He murmured tiredly, climbing onto the man's lap. Like his father, however much he loved Grissom, Eli would only ever call him that. Grissom. He would listen to Sara calling him Gil as if it was perfectly natural but would only call his legal guardian Grissom. Some people thought it strange but to them it was perfectly natural.

"Goodnight Eli. I'll see you in the morning."

"What are you watching?" The sleepy boy rubbed his eyes.

"A program about bugs." Grissom hugged Eli again.

"Well make sure you're in bed early so Santa can come." Eli said firmly.

"Okay, I will. Grissom promised.

"Goodnight." Eli kissed Grissom's cheek and hugged him tightly before throwing his arms around Hank.

"Night night Hank." The dog snuffled his face and then Eli lifted his arms up to Sara who hoisted him onto her hip.

Once they were in the bedroom, Eli rested his head on Sara's shoulder, nestling into her neck. "Sara?" he murmured almost inaudibly.

"Yeah?"

"Will Santa come even if I can't sleep?"

"You need to sleep, Eli." She chided.

"But...but... I don't wanna." He pressed his face further into Sara's neck. "How will Christmas be Christmas without my mommy?"

Sara sat down on the side of the bed, gently pulling Eli around onto her lap, though his head remained hidden in her shoulder. "Eli, we can't make it like it was... But what we _can _do is make it as good as we can, and we'll do everything that we can to make it as good as we can."

"I know... I just miss her, Sara. I miss my mommy." He whimpered.

"You know what my mommy would say to me on Christmas Eve?" Sara asked softly.

Eli sniffed. "What?"

Sara held Eli close and the familiar words fell from her lips, as naturally as water flowing down a stream. "T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, no creature was stirring, not even a mouse ..."

Eli watched in awe as Sara recalled the whole poem word for word. "I..." he yawned. "I like that. Can you tell it again please, Sara?"

"You have to go to sleep." Sara lay Eli down in his bed and he snuggled under the covers. He reached out for her hand.

"I don't wanna be alone until I go to sleep. Please Sara. It's Christmas!" Eli blinked his big green eyes.

"Okay." Sara smiled, stroking Eli's fluffy hair.

"Sara? Are you gonna have to go fight baddies tomorrow?"

"No, no. The back-up guys are on duty tomorrow." Sara shook her head firmly and Eli was almost content.

"Will you say it again? Please?" Sara softly repeated the story to the little boy as his eyes drifted closed and the comforting sound of his guardian's voice lulled him to sleep.

_"He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,  
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.  
But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,  
'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!'"_

**I know I skipped quite a bit here but hopefully it wasn't too bad. I really want to get into the main plot but I am giving you hints ;-) eyes to the detail, folks, which isn't always something that is v. Important in my stories. I have the plot in my head and I'm getting there. **

**Please review? **

**Please?**


	11. Chapter 11: And So This Is Christmas

**Okay, thank y'all (as Nick would say) for your reviews. I hope this chapter is up to scratch. A little partly fluffy build up chapter here, but next chapter will reveal a couple of major plot details. Again, sorry for mistakes, super quick update. **

**Also, anyone whose read my other stories my recognise some of Nick's family. If I invent new siblings for every story I get confused so I recycle a little, lol! **

**Read, Enjoy, Review. **

**Chapter Eleven # And So This is Christmas #**

Gil Grissom had never imagined himself as a father. It wasn't high on his ultimate goals list, and by the time he got together with Sara he felt it would be unfair to conceive a child at his age. Now, however he was a legal guardian. He was a parent, to Warrick's child.

And at six am on Christmas morning when the excited five year old ran squealing into the room, he couldn't be happier.

"It's Christmas! Sara, Grissom wake up Santa came, Santa came, Santa came!" Eli cried, leaping onto the bed. Sara groaned when his arm landed in her stomach but she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Well then, what did Santa bring?"

Eli ran out of the room and dragged his full stocking into the room. "All of these presents! Look, Sara! Can I open 'em, please, please can I open them?"

"Um..." Sara hesitated before grinning. "Of course. Can you hold on until I grab the camera?"

Eli nodded eagerly. He loved it when Sara took photos. Her work was all over the house, older shots of buildings, animals, rainforests, the team all along with newer shots of Eli, Kristy and the twins. Sara swung herself out of bed and went to fetch the camera, whilst Grissom needed to use the bathroom. Ten minutes later Eli began ripping the paper off his presents.

Among them were a brand new pack of cards - the kid loved card games - and some colouring tools, along with his own kid safe camera.

"Wow!" He cried, staring at the box. "Thank you Santa!" He yelled.

"Y'know, this is what Santa brought you, but we got you a couple of things too." Sara hinted.

Grissom winked. "Under the Christmas tree!"

Eli eagerly rushed down the stairs and tumbled into the living room. He peered under the Christmas tree and pulled out a single white envelope with his name on in big letters. He opened it and looked at the picture of a bag of flour.

"What's this?"

"You have a choice, Eli." Sara smiled. "What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

Without hesitating the boy gave his answer, one he had had since his mom told him about his dad's job. "A CSI."

"Well, if you want, we can do a treasure hunt and you can be a CSI. Or we can tell you where your present is."

"CSI!" Eli squeaked happily.

"Okay. What do you think this picture means?" Grissom asked.

"Flour...the footprint!" Eli gasped. He ran to the front door and jiggled impatiently while Sara opened it.

Outside was a single boot print in the flour. He gasped.

"We caught Santa! Now what?"

"Have a look." Sara hinted.

Eli looked around and ran back inside. Next to the chimney were the tray and a small pot of green fingerprint dust.

"Wow..." he gasped. He fell to his knees with a soft thud and carefully unscrewed the lid. He looked up at Sara and she nodded. There was newspaper underneath to protect the carpet as Eli gingerly dusted the glance, doing remarkably well for a five year old who had only watched it in passing a few times. The powder revealed a smiley face and a fork.

His eyes lit up. "Kitchen?"

"Have a look and see." Sara smiled.

Eli climbed up and ran back into the kitchen. He peered around and then gasped. Glitter was all over the floor.

There were two arrows drawn into it pointing to the living room. Eli followed eagerly and stopped short when he got into the living room. A colourfully wrapped box sat on the coffee table.

He looked at Sara and Grissom who nodded. He carefully ripped off the paper, revealing a large photo album. Eli cocked his head and ran his hands over the words imprinted on the cover.

"Eli Brown." He read out loud. "My p-h...p-h...f! Photo...A...al...alb...alboom? Album! Eli Brown, My Photo Album!" he called triumphantly.

"Well done." Sara murmured.

Eli opened it up. It was sectioned into different parts. He opened the first part and gasped softly, running his little fingers over the pictures of his mom that they'd collected off friends and family. Minutes later he turned to the next section and smiled. There were pictures of him through all his little life. The next section showed pictures of the team and the other kids, Eli's new family. And finally the last section showed him pictures of his dad. He touched a picture of his dad's smiling face. He had Greg caught in a headlock.

"What's dis writing?" he asked quietly.

"You said that you wanted to know more about your daddy and the others. We've put in some stories for you. True stories, about your mommy, your daddy and the rest of us. And even some about you." Grissom ran a hand through Eli's hair.

Eli sniffed, a little trailing down his face. He didn't say anything but he stood up and wrapped his arms around Grissom's waist.

"Thank you." He murmured tearfully. "It's the best present ever."

"I'm glad you think so." Sara smiled. She went off into the kitchen to make some breakfast. "We're going to Uncle Nick's in a couple of hours, okay?"

"Okay..." Eli mumbled, sitting back down on the sofa with his book.

Sara started to get things out for breakfast while Grissom was in the shower.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Eli scampered to the door, closely followed by Hank and Sara. He reached up and opened the door.

"Hello Mrs. Lonagon." Eli greeted his social worker happily.

"Hello Eli." She smiled. "How are you doing?"

"Good thank you. Do you remember Sara?"

"Yes, I do." Mrs. Lonagon smiled. "How are you Ms. Sidle?"

"I'm very good, how are you?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Would you like to come in?"

"No, no thank you. I'm just doing a quick check up; this is on the way to my son's house. How do you like life here, Eli?"

"I miss my mommy but I like it here." He said honestly.

"So they're nice to you?"

"Uh huh! They made me search for my presents!"

She raised an eyebrow. Sara opened her mouth to explain but Eli beat her to it.

"I wanna be a CSI and they let me and it was so cool! Santa came too, and we're gonna go to Uncle Nick's soon!" he cried excitedly.

"What's your Uncle Nick like?" Mrs. Lonagon asked.

"He's da best! Well, not _the _best but defiantly one of the best." He justified with adorable honesty. "He teaches me baseball and football and soccer and he's even taken me horse riding! He's really cool."

"Does Uncle Nick have any children?"

"Uh huh. Kristina but we all call her Kristy and she's just a baby. She's um...she's um eight months old." Eli nodded.

"That's lovely. Does her mommy live with her daddy?"

"Uh uh." Eli shook her head. "Her mommy's..." he turned to Sara. "Where is Kristy's mommy?"

"She's in heaven." Sara said softly.

Eli turned back to Mrs. Lonagon as if she hadn't heard. "Um, she's in heaven."

"Oh no, that's sad." The social worker frowned.

"Uh huh."

"Who else is going to Uncle Nick's?"

Sara shuffled uncomfortably as the chill started to get to her and Eli noticed. He turned to Mrs. Lonagon, taking Sara's hand.

"Um, Sara's getting cold now so can you please either come in or go away?"

Both women raised their eyebrows.

"I sorry but Sara's cold." Eli said sincerely. "She gets cold easily and she doesn't like it!" he added as a whisper to Mrs. Lonagon who smiled.

"Okay!" she whispered. "Eli, can I speak to Sara for a minute? I promise I won't keep her in the cold long?"

He looked up at Sara who crouched down. "Why don't you take Hank out to the back yard for a minute?"

"Okay..." Eli whistled to Hank and ran through the house.

"Don't run through the kitchen, Eli!" She called.

"Sorry Sara!" he called back.

She shook her head. "What would you like to talk to me about?"

"How is he settling in? He seems to be going okay..."

"Yeah, he's going great. He still gets upset sometimes, to be expected but he's a good kid. He behaves – he does what he's asked, he doesn't have tantrums – well, not big ones anyway. Nothing unusual for a kid his age." Sara nodded.

"You were a foster kid yourself, no?"

"Yes, I was." Sara nodded. "But I don't count this as a foster home, we're not strangers and he's not going anywhere."

Mrs. Lonagon looked pleased. "Okay, that's good. Just a couple more things... Eli seemed very protective over you."

Sara smiled wryly. "I guess."

"I'm glad. I'm sorry for disturbing you on Christmas day, but there are too many children to check up on and not all of them are as lucky as Eli is. This really is on route to my son's and I felt that if I could at least check up on Eli then I could convince myself that I'm doing my job right."

"I think you're doing just fine. A hell of a lot better than my social worker." Sara smiled and nodded.

"Thank you. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Sara nodded, closing the door as the social worker walked away.

"Eli, we're going!"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Catherine frowned as Greg turned to drive out of Vegas.

"I thought we were going to Nick's house."

"Nope." Greg shook his head and turned to look back at Catherine. His mom, who was riding shotgun in the eight seater car, pushed his arm.

"Eyes on the road, Greg!"

"Sorry mom." Greg rolled his eyes. "Nick's rented a house up in the hills for everyone. He's invited some of his family too, I think, so there're a lot of us. He said his house would be too small."

"Ah gah ba ba!" Lola waved her arms up and down.

Reuben laughed. Greg smiled into the mirror at Catherine, Lindsey, his grandparents, and his kids.

"This is gonna be a great Christmas."

Just over an hour later, Greg turned up a small road through the forested hills. There was a light covering of snow over the hills.

"Dada ite!" Reuben called.

"Yes, it is white. It's called snow."

"ow..." Reuben repeated. " 'now..."

"Yeah, snow."

"Ssssnow!" he smiled.

"Dada wanna ged ow!" Loeila protested, not at all happy with the long, boring trip. Like her dad at that age, she wasn't good with long car journeys.

"We're nearly there." Greg assured his daughter.

"Wanna ged ow!" She protested, kicking her legs.

"Uh oh..." Greg groaned, watching Loeila's legs start to kick.

"WANNA GED OW!" she wailed, starting to cry, thrashing her limbs about.

"Loeila, please be quiet." Greg moaned.

"WANNA GED OW!" she repeated, until Lindsey reached across.

"It's okay, Lola, we're gonna get out soon, but we gotta wait until we get to Uncle Nick's, okay?"

The soothing voice calmed the baby more than the words but she continued to cry, albeit slightly quieter.

"Lola dop!" Reuben cried. "Dop!"

"Guys, you're both really advanced intelligent toddlers so please just let me concentrate, I gotta try and find this place, so-"

"Dada mada!" Loeila giggled.

"Dada kay-zee!" Reuben giggled back.

"Mom! They're ganging up on me!" Greg cried and both twins' giggles increased.

"Dada silly!" Reuben thrashed his legs happily.

"Well, at least they're happy now." Catherine smiled. "Your daddy's very silly."

"Vewy!" Loeila laughed.

A couple of minutes later, Greg pulled up into a driveway in front of a large hunting lodge.

"Wow. Nicky's gone up in the world." Catherine remarked.

"Let's go!" Greg grinned, plucking Lola out from her car seat. His mom grabbed Reuben and Catherine and Papa Olaf helped to carry the presents they, and Greg, had brought with them in large sacks to the door.

They knocked on the door.

Nick opened it a couple of seconds later. "Hey, everyone, come on in! Sara and Griss got here about half an hour ago."

"I told you we were gonna be late." Lindsey rolled her eyes at her mom.

"It's Christmas, it's all cool!" Nick grinned. Eli came running out from one of the rooms with a huge smile on his face.

"Auntie Cath! Uncle Greg!" he cried happily, running to give both of the adults a big hug. He hugged Lindsey, who he knew and Papa Olaf who he recognised vaguely but he danced behind Greg's legs until they explained who Greg's mom and grandmother were.

"Rosa's cooking and it smells so good!" he cried happily.

A little boy about the same age as Eli with scruffy brown hair and war paint smeared across his face.

"Eli, come on! The aliens are getting away!" he cried.

"Okay!" Eli turned to the adults looking at him with light humour. "We're playing cowboys and aliens!"

"Wasn't that a Harrison Ford movie?" Greg frowned as Eli ran after the other little boy.

"Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig." Lindsey corrected.

"What a team." She said at the exact same time as her mother.

"That's cute." Nick grinned.

"That kid was cute." Lindsey corrected. "He was adorable, who is he?"

"That would be Jayden, he's my nephew, one of the biological ones. Come on, this is the living room..." he led the adults into a large living area with a massive Christmas tree. "Here, let me take those for ya." He smiled, taking the present bags and placing them under the tree.

On the sofas in the room there were a group of people. Sara and Grissom were sitting next to a man who looked just like Nick but with bigger muscles and a crooked nose. He and Sara were laughing hysterically at a woman with curly red hair and a pretty face who had a toddler on her lap with strawberry blonde curls and bright blue eyes. Next to her was another woman, this one with long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes who looked about ten years older than Nick who was also laughing. She was right next to a woman who looked about the same age as Nick, with dark blonde hair. Both were laughing Grissom was just shaking his head, a smile on his face.

Brass, Al Robbins and Judy, his wife, David and his wife Susie, Mandy, Wendy, Archie, Henry, Bobby, Finn, Hodges and Morgan were all also there, along with Ecklie and Olivia, Hodges' mom.

There were loud squeals coming from the adjoining room, where the kids were all playing.

"Hi guys." Sara laughed.

Loeila squealed happily. "Odges!"

Greg placed her on the floor and she ran up to her favourite lab tech who was quick to pull her onto his lap.

"I would have never ever thought that any kid of Greg's would do that in a million years." Catherine shook her head.

"Hey..." Hodges frowned.

"Do you need any help with anything?" Catherine asked.

"Uh, no thanks my parents and DB and his wife and kids are helping Rosa but we're well prepared, have been for a while. I've tried to help but I've been told to go away, so..."

A teenager walked into the room, Kristy on her hip. "Uncle Nick, where's the change mat?"

"I can do that if you want, Inessa." Nick smiled.

"It's cool."

"If you're sure, it's in the blue bathroom." Nick grinned.

"Thank you."

"So are these your brothers and sisters, Nick?" Lindsey asked.

"I'm Robert," the man next to Sara smiled. "But y'all can call me Robbie if you want. I'm the oldest son, kid number two and I have Brianna, Jayden, Samantha, Danny and Ava."

"I'm MJ." The red head smiled. "I'm the second youngest. This is Madi, and my other kids in there are Lara, Eve and Mickey."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "MJ as in...?"

"Mary-Jane? Yeah. The red hair is natural and has been since I was born when Robbie was told he could name me. He was a comic book freak." MJ nodded.

"Cool!" Greg grinned.

"Joanne, I'm the oldest." The woman with dark brown hair grinned. "Nessa is my youngest-"

"And I'm Hailee, her oldest. My other siblings, Jody and Rebecca are both travelling, and my kids Naomi, Jake and Tasha are in the other room." The blonde grinned.

"You're Nick's niece?" Greg's eyes widened.

"Yeah, a year older than him too." She nodded.

"Teen mom." Joanne admitted. "I was sixteen. I told mom I was pregnant seven months in, when Hails was three months mom got pregnant with Nicky."

"The little accident." Robert teased.

Nick just laughed. "Hey, I may of been an accident but I was still the favourite."

"Mom and dad didn't have favourites." Joanne protested.

"Nah, but you have to admit he was the golden boy."

"That was more to do with the fact that he was a little goody two shoes." MJ teased.

"I can believe that." Greg remarked.

"What, and you weren't?"

Greg's mom and grandparents laughed. "Uh, no."

"Did he ever tell you about how he made bombs?"

Nick looked at Greg and they grinned. "Little bombs."

"Jesus, Sara you were right, they are like brothers." Robbie shook his head.

"You were talking about me?" Greg frowned, before his eyes lit up. "Sara, you love me!"

Sara rolled her eyes. "If you mean as the irritating little brother, yeah I guess so. Anything else you're out of luck, buddy."

Greg grinned cheekily. "Better than nothing."

"Greg," Grissom warned with a slight smile.

"Sorry, Grissom." Greg grinned.

A girl of about fifteen ran into the room with Eli on her back. He hopped down and she walked boldly up to Greg.

"Hi, I'm Bri. Do your kids wanna come play with us? 'Cause they can if they wanna." She smiled.

"Pay!" Reuben laughed, clapping his hands together.

"I think that's a yes."

"The other room's already been childproofed." Nick added.

"Dow daddy, dow!"

"I don't think there's such a word as dow." Greg teased.

Reuben huffed. "Dow-nah! Down daddy!"

Greg kissed his son on the forehead and the eleven month old scampered down.

"Hello sweetie! What's your name?"

"Uban!" he smiled.

"Reuben." Greg corrected, though the little boy was busy taking Bri's hand and didn't notice.

"Dow Odges peese?" Loeila asked. "Wanna go pay!"

Hodges smiled and lifted Loeila down.

"And what's your name, beautiful?"

"Lola!" she smiled, flashing her small toothy grin.

"Lola, that's a nice name!" Bri smiled, taking the little girls hand. "Are you coming Madi?"

The little girl recoiled into her mom. "Don like ayens."

"We're not playing aliens anymore. We're playing princes and princesses." Bri edged.

The curly hair bobbed around her face as the toddler deliberated before nodding and skipping after her cousin, thumb in mouth.

"Oh, Greg, I almost forgot." Catherine fumbled in her purse. "Here. My new partner at the FBI, Alyssa, was looking up some Las Vegas hospital records and she stumbled upon these. She recognised them because I kinda talk about you a lot. She found their birth records."

Greg's eyes lit up. "Really? How?"

"Like I said, she was looking at other records to do with a suspect's daughter being born and she found them. She says merry Christmas." Catherine passed the paper over.

"Thanks!" Greg laughed, hugging Catherine. "Tell her she's amazing!"

"I will." Catherine laughed.

"Wow... January the first. They're new year babies." Greg smiled softly.

"Oh, about New Year..." Ecklie shuffled in his seat. "I...uh, I have to talk to you about that."

Everyone stiffened.

"Uh, Dad? It would kinda suck if you told us now that we didn't have the day off..." Morgan edged.

"Actually, I was going to say that you can have the whole week off, up to the first of January. The government are running a major introductory scheme for the New Year, involving nomad investigators who travel around every month or so. Day shift were willing to take part in the experiment which buys you guys a whole week off work."

"Are you kidding, all of us?" Nick's eyes widened.

"Nope. Not kidding." Ecklie shook his head.

"Okay, now that is awesome!" Morgan grinned.

"And that reminds me, Nick, I brought some drinks and some desserts, they're in the back of the car."

"Thanks, man, I'll give you a hand." Nick grinned, following Greg out to the car.

A short while later, Rosa emerged from the kitchen. "Food's up!"

A loud collection of squeals of delight came from the other room. Suddenly there was the unmistakable sound of someone bursting into tears and the little boy that had called Eli to play cowboys and aliens ran sobbing into the room, flinging himself into Robert's lap.

"Daaaaaaddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" he wailed.

"I didn't do anyfing!" A little girl called from the other room.

"Yes you did you pushed me poo face!" Jayden yelled back.

"Jay, Jay, stop it, calm down kid... what happened, man?" Robbie asked.

"Sam pushed me and-"

"I didn't! I didn't do anyfing!" The same little girl called angrily.

"Sammy, come here please."

A female copy of Jayden huffed into the room, arms folded. "I didn't do anyfing." She sulked.

"Sam." Robert looked at both his kids, pulling Sam onto his other knee. "Okay, let Jayden talk for a minute. Jay, what happened?"

The little boy sighed. "Rosa called and Samantha pushed me and I hit my head and it hurts."

"Okay. Sammy, what did you want to say?"

"I didn't do anyfing at all!" Samantha pouted. "I didn't daddy, honest! We were all pushin' and Jayden just fell!"

"Okay, so it was all an accident?"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Okay, Sam, apologise to your brother."

"Daaaddy!"

"Saaaamy!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jayden."

"Right, Jayden you apologise to your sister for calling her poo face, that wasn't very nice, was it?"

"Sorry Sam."

"Okay, good kids, now go up to the table nicely."

They pushed off each other and raced out of the room. Robbie turned to Greg who had recently re-entered.

"Ah, the joys of having twins."

"Great, I look forward to it." Greg grinned. "Let's go before the kids get all the good food."

Nick grinned. "Aw, there's plenty to go round. Rosa is an experienced genius in the cooking department."

They all walked into the large dining room. There was a long table down the middle of the room and a smaller one to the side.

All of the kids over the age of three, including Russell's granddaughter Kaitlyn were sitting on the smaller table. Eli was talking to a little boy called Jake and smiled at Sara.

The younger kids were given high seats next to their parents.

"Today is officially nanny off duty day!" Nick declared and Lindsey and Rosa smiled. "Today you count as part of the family. The only reason Rosa cooked is because she begged me not too. Now I'm not the most religious man in the world but I do like a bit of tradition here and there, unlike some people..." he winked at Sara who laughed. "so I wanna say a couple of things. I wanna thank God this Christmas for the family I was born into, the family that's joined it, and the family that welcomed me into Vegas. I wanna thank god for my growing family both here in Vegas and, all over the world actually. I wanna thank god for this great food and this great place that we've been able to hire. I wanna thank god for all the stuff we've got, and for everything Santa's brought. And I wanna thank god for the people we love who can't be here for one reason or another." He took a breath. "Especially my brother and sisters, and in laws who can't be here, and for Tina and Warrick Brown, and for Cassie McBride."

Everyone nodded.

"So, thank you lord, now, let's dig in!"

People started talking immediately, dishing up spoonfuls of the delicious smelling food Rosa had cooked.

"Ba ga maka!" Kristy smiled as Nick put food on his plate. A few minutes later he opened a little tub of pureed fruit and started feeding Kristy. She smiled and gurgled happily. When Nick went for the second spoonful she pushed the spoon out of the way.

"What, you don't want it?" Nick raised his eyebrows, trying again but the baby turned her face away.

"Okay, then." Nick shook his head, putting the spoon down. Kristy instantly covered her eyes with her hands.

"Oh, you wanna play? Peeka..." she uncovered her eye and he grinned. "Boo!" he cried and she giggled in obvious excitement. Nick covered his own eyes. "Peeka...boo!"

Kristy laughed again and his smiled at him. She pushed his arm lightly. "You're a good dad."

"You're a good mom." He replied.

She smiled. "I thought I'd never get any grandkids from you."

"Well you're not exactly lacking in that department." Nick motioned towards the large table of children.

She smiled. "I know."

A few hours later, after a major present exchange, the children were all taken to various bedrooms, one bedroom per family roughly. Greg's grandparents and mom left to catch an early flight back to San Gabriel for boxing day to be with their other family, as did David and Susie, Russell's son and daughter, Wendy, Mandy, Archie, Henry, Bobby, Ecklie and Olivia Hodges but the others all stayed in the living room, each with a glass of some sort of alcohol.

Nick couldn't imagine a happier Christmas with both of his families as they laughed and joked around, loud enough to have fun but quite enough to let the kids sleep.

Hours after that they all hit the sack. There were so many of them that they all had to double up, or even triple up.

The next morning Nick's family left, having only expected to stay for a day. Rosa was also going back with them for a couple of weeks.

"Nick, your family seems to have shrunk." Greg remarked, looking around the room. Doc Robbins and Judy were taking to DB and Barbra. The others remaining were Sara, Grissom and Eli, Greg and the twins, Morgan, Hodges, Nick and Kristy, Catherine and Lindsey and Finn.

"Yeah? Well that's not too much of a problem." Nick grinned. "Can you believe it? A whole week off. God, I miss high school where you were guaranteed a long break every year and didn't lose any money for it."

"Me too." Catherine nodded.

"Sara, can I show Auntie Catherine my book? I left it in the car." Eli asked.

"Okay, let's go get it then." She smiled, taking Eli's hand and leading him outside. The snowfall had increased, completely covering Eli's little shoes, so Sara swung him onto her back. She opened the car door and took out the photo album. As she was turning back, she noticed something strange. Her tyres were slashed. Frowning, she quickly checked all of the other cars. All the tyres were slashed. Dread covered Sara as she noticed a pool of crimson on the other side of her car.

"Eli, close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Please, Eli, just close them."

"They're closed!"

Sara peered around and winced. A dead lamb lay on the ground, blood pouring from it's slit throat.

A fleece as white as snow.

Sara stood up and started to move back towards the house when something caught her eye. She put Eli down.

"Run, Eli, run inside, now!"

"Why?"

"Eli, run!" Sara yelled, pulling open her door once more and grabbing for her gun in the glove box. It was empty. She turned back towards the advancing armed man and screamed at Eli who was frozen in place.

"Run Eli! MOVE!"

Eli turned and started stumbling back towards the house. Sara sprinted behind him, seeing faces appear in the window. Something wrapped around the back of her leg and she fell to the floor with a startled cry. The first person to appear at the door was Nick, closely followed by the others with the exception of Greg, Morgan and Barbara who were holding the babies.

"SARA!" Nick yelled as she was dragged backwards through the snow.

What the hell was going on?

_"Get of me!" _Sara growled, ripping at the rope.

Suddenly a single gunshot rang through the night. The snow around her body blossomed red.

Eli's voice was the first to reach her shocked ears.

"S...Sara?"

**Any good? Too long, too vague, too dull? Please tell me I wanna improve. And stick with me, we're getting into the good stuff I swear! =)**


	12. Chapter 12: and What Have You Done?

**Happy Halloween! Thanks for my reviews! More please! I know, I'm greedy but hey it's inspiration! I hope this chapter's not too bad, I quite like it... **

**Anyway, remember in this story MOST THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON so I wanna hear your theories! Please?**

**ReAd. EnJoY. rEvIeW! **

**Chapter Twelve # ...And what have you done? #**

Sara raised her head slowly, Eli's screams ringing in her eyes. Someone crunched through the snow and stood over her, gun raised.

She took Catherine's hand and the blonde pulled her up, her gun pointed at the groaning man behind her. The man whose blood had splattered all around Sara.

"Get inside." Catherine said quietly and Sara nodded, stumbling back toward the house. On her way in she was bombarded by a small, powerful force. She hoisted Eli into her arms and he held onto her as tight as he could, while his little face stared in terror at Catherine and the man.

"Sara are you-" Grissom stepped forward, his hand outstretched, but she interrupted him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She murmured. She looked at Grissom as Catherine cuffed the man, keeping her gun trained on the woods. Another couple of gunshots rang out and Eli screamed hysterically.

Not wanting to close the door on Catherine, Nick stiffened, reaching for the nearest counter and grabbing a couple of guns and passing them around.

"I'm getting him further into the house." Sara said quickly, and the others pushed her back. Nick pressed a small handgun into her hand.

"Safety's on. There's a panic room in the back of the laundry room." He said quickly.

Greg, Barbara and Morgan appeared at the door of the living room with three shocked babies and Nick started pushing people back towards the panic room.

Finn, Brass, Nick, DB and Grissom, the ones not holding kids who knew how to shoot, each held took a position by the door as Catherine crouched down firing into the woods as snow flew up around her, while the others headed for the panic room. Doc Robbins held open the door as they all filed through.

Eli took one last look back at his family guarding the door. He watched as Catherine fell to the floor in time with a gunshot.

"AUNTIE CATHERINE!" he screamed, stretching his arms back towards her desperately. Nick stepped outside, shooting into the woods and suddenly hit the deck. Eli screamed again and started crying. Grissom turned and Sara nodded at him, taking Eli into the panic room, closing the door behind her but not locking it.

Kristy had started to cry, as had Loeila, though Reuben remained more calm. He didn't understand what was going on. There had been screaming when they were playing yesterday.

Eli on the other hand was almost hysterical.

"It's okay, Eli, it's going to be okay, I promise, we're going to be alright, you're gonna be okay." Sara murmured over and over again, stroking his hair. Eli shook his head, tears pouring down his cheek.

"Auntie Catherine, Auntie Catherine, Auntie Catherine!" he wailed, his eyes wide with fear.

Sara swallowed. "Eli, can you calm down for me?"

A loud shout of "Jesus Christ" from Nick frightened Eli further and he tightened his grip around Sara, crying harder.

"Sara I'm scared!" he sobbed.

"I know, I know, baby, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise I'll look after you. I got you, Eli, I got you, it's gonna be okay." Sara said softly and honestly, stroking the side of Eli's face with one hand, supporting his weight with one arm.

Finn screamed in what sounded like pain and Eli huddled further against Sara.

"Sara?" Eli whispered, his big green eyes wide as he stared at the door.

"Yeah?" She murmured back .

"Are we gonna die?"

"No, baby, we're not gonna die." Sara murmured into his hair.

"Why do you have a gun, I thought you said they were bad?" he cried between sobs.

"Just in case, sweetie, it's going to be alright, I promise. I won't let them hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you." She pressed a kiss onto his head.

There was a knock at the door and Hodges peered through the small hole. "It's Nick and the others, are you good if I open the door?"

"One second." Sara balanced Eli on her hip and pointed the gun at the door, taking it off safety.

"Sara, what are you doing?" Eli breathed.

"Eli, I want you to turn your head away, look at me, okay? Close your eyes." She said. He nestled his head into her neck and stiffened. "Okay, Hodges."

Grissom and Russell walked in first, their guns pointed behind them, where Catherine and Nick where half dragging half carrying the man who had tried to drag Sara away. Finn and Brass both had guns trained on the man who was gagged, cuffed, unconscious and bleeding.

"Catherine, put him in here." Nick motioned to a small alcove just big enough for the man to fit in. "This place was some sort of hide-out, the original owners were paranoid to the point of disbelief but this..." he pulled a thick glass door across the small area, trapping the man in. "...may come in handy."

"Very paranoid." DB remarked as they secured their guns. "You know this is really pi- making me angry. This is supposed to be Boxing Day; I mean come on, these people? I'm sick of them."

"Do you think they're the same people who shot Morgan?" Greg asked.

"And blew up Greg?" Morgan returned.

"I reckon the odds are pretty good." Russell ran a hand through his hair, his wife putting a hand on his arm.

"Eli, it's okay, you can look now. See, Auntie Catherine's fine." Sara murmured. Eli peeked around and relaxed when he saw his Auntie.

"Auntie Catherine!" he cried softly. "I thought they'd ki...killeded you!"

"No, sweetie, I'm okay, I'm okay." She smiled, moving over from where she was hugging Lindsey to stroke Eli's hair.

His little hand flew up to hers but his legs and other arm didn't even loosen from around Sara.

Meanwhile Kristy was still screaming.

"It's okay, baby girl. Shh, sh, Daddy's here..." Nick murmured softly. "There's a girl, it's okay."

Slowly, Kristy stopped crying. She stared up at her father.

"Thatta girl. It's alright baby girl, Daddy's got ya. Everything's gonna be okay now." He smiled. She cocked her head.

"Dada."

Nick laughed in shock. Finn put a hand on his arm a smile on her face.

"Did you hear that?" he asked with a smile.

"I did hear that. You're a clever girl, Kristy!" Finn smiled.

"What happened?" Greg asked as the others started to notice.

"Dada! Dadadadada!" Kristy gurgled.

Everyone laughed.

"Kristy's talking." Eli sniffed, wiping his eyes which were trained on the man behind the glass.

"Yeah, she is." Sara smiled, jostling Eli on her hip.

Nick rocked Kristy happily, for a moment, before snapping back into reality. "We need to call somebody."

"The phone lines in the house are dead; I checked when people started shooting." Morgan piped up.

"Yeah, but down here the phone's connected to a totally different line." Nick explained.

"Really, really paranoid." Greg raised his eyebrows.

"Uh huh, but good for us." Nick nodded. "That's why I hired the place, I mean we haven't caught the people that... hurt Morgan, Greg and the twins yet so I thought it would be a good idea to come prepared."

"Good call." DB said, his face stony.

"I'll call it in." Brass volunteered.

About half an hour later, the screaming of sirens indicated a police presence, and Brass confirmed on the line it was the police. There were sounds of running through the house and Brass carefully opened the door to Officer Mitchell.

"Aw, Mitch, thank god."

"You all okay?" the familiar officer asked.

"Yeah, I think so. All apart from our shooter over there." Catherine nodded. "Sara, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine." Sara nodded, returning to stroking Eli's hair.

"We're clearing the surrounding area and seeing if we can get you all back to Vegas soon." Mitchell nodded.

"If we're careful we might be able to get our stuff." Grissom mused.

"Book, my book!" Eli cried.

"We won't forget your book." Grissom soothed the boy. "How many cars have you got out front?"

"Five." Mitch nodded. "Calling in for more."

"I say we get the kids out of here first." Brass shrugged. "Sara, Eli and Gil take one car, Greg and the twins in another, Nick and Kristy in another."

"That's fair enough," Nick started, "But three per car, I can take someone else home. And there are two more cars."

"Okay..." Russell thought. "Morgan can go with Nick, perhaps. Hodges and Doc and Judy could take a car, then Finn, Barbara and Lindsey go in the third. Then Catherine, Brass and I will follow. If we all go back to PD, give our statements, then we can figure out what we're going to do."

Brass nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"What about our stuff?" Morgan asked.

"Take what we need now, get the rest back later." Grissom said simply. "Lay low, in case there's anyone still waiting."

"Sounds good to me." Mitch nodded as paramedics walked into the room, taking the man with them.

"Keep an officer on him, I want answers." Catherine ordered.

The paramedics nodded. A couple of hours later a group of exhausted CSIs made their way into the living room at the Russell's house.

Eli was asleep in Grissom's arms, his little face not quite peaceful. Kristy and Loeila were also asleep, but Reuben was awake and playing with his dad's scruffy hair.

"Have a seat, guys." Russell invited tiredly.

"Thanks." Greg sighed wearily, copying Barbara's graceful flop onto the end of the sofa. Reuben poked his face softly.

"Dada." Reuben said softly. Greg smiled wearily at his son.

"Reuben."

The little boy was confused. He didn't know any words for how his dad seemed. He did not know what tired was. He did not know what scared was. He had no words for the face his daddy was pulling. He didn't understand the emotions, the expression. He had barely any negative words in his vocabulary at all.

He was too young.

"Dada?" It was more of a question this time.

"Yeah, Reubs?"

"Bad? What bad dada?" the baby asked.

Greg laughed softly. "Nothing's bad. Everything's good."

Reuben smiled. That was all the baby needed to hear. His daddy's happy voice was all he needed to feel safe.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"And you didn't get the people behind it?" Alyssa gaped.

Catherine shook her head, her fists clenching. "No. The asshole bled out en route to the hospital. There were no casings, no blood, no anything!" she threw her hands in the hair. "All we have is the carcass of a two month old lamb and the body of a guy who's not in any system we, they, checked, and its killing me! I mean, there were kids there, babies!"

Alyssa shook her head. "And there are no leads?"

"Nothing." Catherine sat down behind her desk, and dropped her head into her hands. "I'm scared for them, Alyssa, I really am."

"I would be too." Alyssa frowned. "So Christmas was great, Boxing Day sucked...how about the rest?"

"You know, the twins' first birthday...that was..." Catherine laughed. "Well. That was really something."

_"Come in, Catherine." Greg opened the door, a huge smile on his face. In the living room was a small pile of presents. Most of the people who had spent Christmas in the hunting lodge were there, with the exceptions of Nick's family, Hodges' mom, Ecklie, and Bobby Dawson, who had been dragged into work. _

_Loeila was busy drawing splodges and stripes on Hodges with brand new non toxic finger paint. Reuben was having fun with Mandy, who was stacking little bricks as quickly as Reuben could knock them down. Eli was showing Nick his book and Kristy was crawling across the floor, followed by Morgan. _

_Catherine couldn't help but smile at her CSI family, as Nick once called it. _

_"Thanks. Hi everyone! I brought presents." She smiled, putting them down on the pile. _

_"Aundie Cafwin!" Reuben smiled. "Dicks!" _

_"Uh, Reubs?" Mandy caught the baby's attention as Catherine tried not to laugh. "B-r-icks. _Bricks."

_"Bicks?" he frowned. _

_"Better." Mandy nodded. Reuben smiled and started to throw the 'bicks' around. _

_"Ow!" Hodges protested. _

_"Na ba macka ba da mee poh cosco my Odges!" Loeila babbled angrily at her brother. _

_"Ba cah ma da mo copo!" Reuben returned quickly. _

_"Ba ca foppa…" _

_"They have their own language?" Catherine grinned. _

_"I'm not sure you could call it a language." Greg rolled his eyes as the twins continued talking, if you could call it that. _

_"...and dis one's of my daddy and Auntie Catherine and you!" Eli finished with a flourish._

_"Hey, Cath, come have a look at this!" Nick called Catherine over and she looked at the book. _

_"Oh, wow... That was your thirty...fifth birthday right?" Catherine smiled at the familiar photo. She was in the middle of Nick and Warrick, her arms wrapped around both of their shoulders. _

_"Yeah, Grissom took this picture. Look at this." Nick pointed to the paragraph next to it. _

_Eli started to read aloud. "When...Nick...had...his...three five th..." _

_"Thirty fifth." Nick corrected with an encouraging smile. _

_"Bir...th...day. Birthday... Warrick...Catherine...and Nick...went...out...for...drinks. They...went...to...the...strip...and..." he paused from following the words with his finger to look up at Nick. "You read it!" _

_"Aw, but you were doing so well!" Nick cried. Eli just snuggled into his uncle's chest and looked up at him expectantly. Nick sighed. "Fine. They went to the strip and went to a party, where they danced for hours. Sara and Greg joined them later on, along with Mandy and Wendy from the lab. After they finished dancing they all went back to Nick's house for coffee. However, Warrick went straight home, because he wanted to see his girlfriend, Tina. Before they all left though, they decided to sing happy birthday to him. It was funny, because Nick was very embarrassed when everyone started singing. Warrick sang the loudest and everybody stared." Nick laughed softly, the memory surrounding him. "Yeah. Everybody stared." _

_"I remember." Catherine murmured. "That's some book, Eli." _

_"I know. It's the best. Sara and Grissom made it for me for Christmas."_

_Suddenly the lights dimmed and a couple of candle lights illuminated the opening of the room. _

_"Happy birthday to you..." Greg sang, carrying a large Thomas the Tank Engine cake and the others joined in. _

_"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Reuben and Lola, happy birthday to you!" They finished, and Greg put the 'Thomas' cake down in front of Reuben as Wendy put a Princess cake down in front of Loeila. _

_"You gotta blow out the candles!" Eli hinted loudly. _

_"Why don't you come help them out?" Greg held out his arm as the two babies stared at them blankly. _

_Eli nodded and scrambled off the sofa. Greg put his arm around Eli's shoulder and he blew out the candles. _

_"Who wants cake?" Greg called. _

_"Me!" Morgan, Sara and Finn called. _

_Eli looked at Greg. "Can I have some?" _

_"Everyone can have cake!" Greg declared. _

_Archie laughed, holding the video camera on Greg as he cut the cake and started dishing it out. Reuben swiped at the cake and immediately put his fingers – and the icing on them – into his mouth with a giggle. _

_Greg roared playfully and lifted him into the air. Reuben squealed in delight and Greg brought him onto his hip and returned to cutting the cake. Kristy crawled over but Nick scooped her up. _

_"You're too small for that much cake, baby girl." _

_Kristy's little brow furrowed and Nick scooped a little bit of icing off of the top of the cake, and placed it gently in her mouth. She smiled at him. _

_"Um um um um um!" she gurgled happily. _

_They were all happy. _

"Sounds like a great party." Alyssa smiled.

"Oh, it was." Catherine grinned. "I have a feeling Greg's going to have some pretty good parties coming up over the next few years. Oh, he says you're amazing by the way."

She laughed. "It wasn't a problem. Lisa Cooke was easy to find."

Catherine nodded.

"Hey, Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"They're at the second best crime lab in the entire country. They'll find these guys." Alyssa said seriously.

"I hope you're right." Catherine sighed.

"I often am." Alyssa teased.

"Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nope. Not really anything that affects us, anyway. Jamison was busy."

"Good." Catherine sighed. "Not for Jamison, but good."

Alyssa subtly stole a glance at one of the new photos on Catherine's desk. A pair of one year old twins, cake around their faces.

It was so hard to tell herself when she was in so much pain, but she knew in her heart and in her mind that her strongest voice was telling the truth.

_Greg's a great dad. You made the right choice. _

"Hey, Willows, Brown, have you heard the news?" Corey Peterson, a young agent burst into the room.

"What news?" Alyssa frowned.

"Some guys been washed up on the beach in New York, and he was an ex CIA operative! They think there's a mole in the CIA, the rumours are all over the department, they think loads of ex operatives could be in trouble." Both Corey and Catherine glanced at Alyssa. "But don't worry, Roger in Communications thinks it'll be only people that worked with the guy that'll be in trouble. His name was Ronnie Brooks."

"Ronnie Brooks?" Alyssa blurted out.

"You knew him?" Catherine asked.

An overwhelming sense of loss swallowed Alyssa. "Yeah, he was my partner."

Catherine and Corey exchanged looks. "That..." Corey stammered. "That could be bad."

"What happened to him?" Alyssa asked.

"According to the grapevine, the coroner says he was probably tortured for a few weeks before he bled to death." Corey muttered as Alyssa fell backwards into a chair, massaging her forehead.

"Ronnie...Ronnie was a good guy." She muttered. She locked eyes with Catherine. "A really good guy."

Catherine nodded. "I'm sorry."

Alyssa nodded. Her phone rang and she picked it up, neither surprised or happy to hear her old bosses voice on the phone.

_"Hello Alyssa." _

"Hello." She returned coldly.

_"Ah, I take it you've heard about Brooks." _

"Yes."

_"Unfortunate, unfortunate. You may be in trouble my girl." _

"Yes, I may be."

_"Don't be like that. It wasn't us." _

"Of course it wasn't."

_"Alyssa, someone was out to get Brooks and I think it was to do with Operation Fox-Strike." _

Alyssa's blood went cold as he continued.

_"I don't have to tell you what that might mean." _

"No. You don't."

_"Fancy coming back for some protection?" _

"No. I don't."

_"Okay, then. You're on your own. I did warn you, Alyssa." _

"Goodbye."

_"Bye." _

She hung up the phone. "Good riddance."

Catherine looked at her sympathetically. "Your old boss?"

"Yeah." Alyssa nodded. "Catherine, if I stay and I put a target on your back-"

"It's called being part of a team." Catherine waved away Alyssa's worries. "I got your back."

Alyssa smiled, but tears filled her eyes, much to her surprise. She could count on two hands the number of times she'd cried since her eighteenth birthday and over a hand of that was since she became pregnant. She couldn't count the number of times she'd cried in public. She never had.

"Excuse me." She whispered, racing to the nearest ladies room. She shook and tried to regain her composure.

"Alyssa?"

"I'm sorry, Cath." She gasped, but all she felt was a friendly hand on her back.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. At least you made it to the right bathroom. My friend Warrick once ended up in the ladies."

Alyssa laughed slightly. "I...Ronnie was the only person who's actually given a damn, you know?"

Catherine smiled sadly and nodded.

"My parents were...well. Not really parents." She stared into the mirror. Keeping secrets only worked for so long. Sometimes you had to let them out, and Alyssa knew that. "Abuse was second nature, and I was told that that was what made me such a successful agent. Detachment. I had no loving relationships. Ronnie cared, took me under his wing, looked after me. I just... The thing is, I can't say I can't believe he's dead, because I know that he is. I just..."

Catherine swallowed. "You know, Ronnie's not the only one who cares about you."

Alyssa smiled sadly. "Not any more. Thanks, Catherine. Urgh, I hate crying."

"Join the club." Catherine passed her a tissue.

"You know, I never knew what I could say to my parents if I ran into them. I had no idea. So when they contacted me, do you know what I did?"

"What?"

"I emailed them a song." She laughed. "The stupidest thing...Because of You, by Kelly Clarkson. It was the only way I could think of to tell them how I felt."

Catherine hugged Alyssa. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I just need to let it out once in a while, then I'm fine." She insisted. "Ronnie's just...he was the first person I've let myself care for in a long time."

Catherine nodded, her expression pained. The woman in front of her was about Greg's age, and Catherine had developed similar maternal instincts towards both accomplished criminalists. "I get it."

Alyssa swallowed again, pushing her hair out of her face. "I'll be okay. I always am."

"At least that's what you tell yourself." Catherine smiled wryly.

"You know, I honestly think you might be the best thing that's happened to me in a long time." Alyssa grinned honestly.

"I'm glad I can help."

"Were you this...motherly to your old team?"

Catherine laughed out loud. "Yeah, I guess I was."

Alyssa nodded. She was so grateful for Catherine's friendship. She was terrified of what would happen if she found out about what Alyssa had done to Greg, but that was a secret for another day.

Later that night Catherine turned on the computer in her apartment. She couldn't sleep.

Worry for the CSIs in Vegas and for Alyssa kept her up. She checked her emails even though they were sent to her phone anyway. No new messages. Suddenly a new message popped up.

_From: louvartaan _

_To: cathwillows _

_Hey Cath, just checking you're doing okay. _

_This jobs not the same without running into you, and I miss you a lot. I'm thinking of a change of scenery. How would you feel about having a flat mate for a couple of days if I chose to take an early retirement in Quantico? Just an idea. _

_I know you don't want a complicated relationship, but I've let too many go to let you be the one that got away. If I didn't try I know it would eat me up for the rest of my life, so, yeah. _

_I miss you Catherine, and I love you. That was hard to type, but it's true. So, if you wanna try, give me a call._

_Lou_

A shocked smile appeared on Catherine's face. She reached for the phone, making one of her split second decisions. She hoped it wouldn't be one she regretted.

Two hours and forty three minutes later, according to the phone, Catherine hung up from Lou with a smile on her face. They would try.

Suddenly something came into her head. She entered YouTube and typed something into the search box. As she got ready from the bed, she started to listen to the music.

_"I will not make the same mistakes that you did  
I will not let myself  
Cause my heart so much misery  
I will not break the way you did,  
You fell so hard  
I've learned the hard way  
To never let it get that far_

Because of you  
I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you  
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you  
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me  
Because of you  
I am afraid

I lose my way  
And it's not too long before you point it out  
I cannot cry  
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes  
I'm forced to fake  
A smile, a laugh every day of my life  
My heart can't possibly break  
When it wasn't even whole to start with

Because of you  
I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you  
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you  
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me  
Because of you  
I am afraid

I watched you die  
I heard you cry every night in your sleep  
I was so young  
You should have known better than to lean on me  
You never thought of anyone else  
You just saw your pain  
And now I cry in the middle of the night  
For the same damn thing

Because of you  
I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you  
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you  
I try my hardest just to forget everything  
Because of you  
I don't know how to let anyone else in  
Because of you  
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty  
Because of you  
I am afraid

Because of you  
Because of you."

Well, Catherine thought. That explains a few things. It almost reminded her of Sara.

She stared at the photographs by the side of her bed.

There were so many people she missed who she would never see again, but she had so many people she loved. Alyssa didn't have that.

God, her personal life couldn't get much more screwed up, could it?

Catherine sighed and restored to doing something she hadn't done in years.

Catherine Willows bowed her head and prayed.

**Hope it's okay. Opinions on Alyssa? On the plot? **

**Tell me, please! **

**Good enough to continue, or no?"**


	13. Chapter 13: First Threats At Age Three

**Thanks so much for your kind reviews! I love you all! Right, now I have an apology to make. I've skipped ahead a wee bit here because it's necessary for the plot, but I will put important events into the story through flashbacks. Any events that you really wanna know about then just let me know :-) I really hope this chapter isn't too long, but this is where the action starts. **

**Angst is coming! **

**WARNING: Bad language appears in this chapter. Sorry. Also it's really long, sorry!**

**Also, anyone who has been affected by Hurricane Sandy, my heart goes out to you!**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirteen # First Threats #**

Morgan raised the coffee cup to her lips, staring at Reuben chasing his sister around the living room with a tube of tomato ketchup. She'd missed the coffee mornings with Greg, but she didn't say anything, so she'd been shocked when Greg had asked her to come around for coffee after shift. Normally if she came around it was to see the twins, but this time Greg asked her over for coffee. Maybe he was interested... Then again, she was probably over analysing things. Since Greg received custody of the twins, he hadn't really seemed interested anymore.

Greg was following quickly and managed to swing the toddler up into the air, pulling the sauce out of his hand before placing him back down to chase his sister.

"You know, it was three years today that they arrived." Morgan looked up at Greg who looked slightly shocked as he sat down.

"Really? Today?"

Morgan nodded; laughing at the scatterbrained look on Greg's face as he absently pulled a plastic doll out from underneath him.

"Today what, Daddy?" Loeila asked, climbing onto Greg's lap.

"It was three years ago today was when you arrived here with me." Greg explained. "When you were a little three month old baby."

The three year old looked exasperated. "But I beened wif you foreber, daddy!"

Greg laughed softly and kissed her smooth hair, which had grown to strawberry blonde curls that fell almost halfway to her shoulders.

"I wish, baby girl." He smiled.

"I no baby!" she protested.

Morgan grinned. "No, you're a big girl, aren't you Lola?"

The toddler nodded exaggeratedly.

"It's gone by so fast." Greg said wistfully.

"I know." Morgan shook her head as Reuben raced over with a piece of paper with a drawing on.

"Oh yeah, he wouldn't show me what it was. He said it was for-"

"Audie Mogan." Reuben said firmly, before hopefully showing Morgan the picture. "I drawded it for you!"

A wobbly smiley face was roughly in the middle, and surrounded by colourful scribbles and spots.

"It's beautiful!" Morgan gasped with a smile, pulling Reuben onto her lap.

He beamed with pleasure and looked up at Morgan. "Weally? Do you fink?"

"I do." She grinned, hugging him tightly. "Thank you very much."

Reuben smiled and looked up at Morgan. "I love you."

Greg smiled as Morgan hugged his son. "I love you too."

"Daddy?" Loeila asked, playing with a little toy dinosaur, making it climb up Greg's arm.

"Uh huh?"

"Um, um, at daycawe de ober kids hab mommies. Why we no hab a mommy?" she asked.

Greg glanced at Morgan. How to you tell a three year old there mother abandoned them? He didn't want to tell them that they'd been unwanted for the first three months of his existence but Greg also didn't want to spin a web of lies that he would regret later. He also believed that however much it could hurt them, they had a right to know if they wanted, when they grew old enough.

"Well..." He could even tell them she loved them.

"Is our mommy in heben like Eli's mommy? And Kristy's?" Reuben asked.

"No, I don't think so." Greg sighed. "Your mommy left daddy, and she left you with me, three years ago."

"She dust leabed us?" Reuben frowned. "Why did she leabe us?"

"But you know what?" Morgan announced. "You don't need a mommy. One - you have an amazing daddy, and two - you have a lot of aunties that will help with the things a mommy would do. Lots of people have no mommy."

"And some people have no daddy." Greg added automatically.

Reuben looked horrified. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Mommy leabed us! Will you leabe us too?" Reuben's face was steadily filling with fear.

Loeila's face added in her brother's terror. "Daddy?"

Greg's arm tightened around his little girl and he fluffed up his little boys hair. "I won't leave you."

"Pwomise?"

_ "I can't promise that, Greg." Mark sighed. _

_"Why? Why would you leabe me?" Greg frowned, his small face contorting in a heartbreaking expression filled with anxiety and sorrow. "You can't leabe me Daddy, you can't!"_

_"I promise I'll try not to, okay Greg?" _

_"Twy?" _

_"My hardest." He placed Greg onto the floor and knelt with his hands on Greg's shoulders, staring into the almost identical eyes. "Greg, with my job, one day I might _have _to leave you. I won't have a choice. But I will promise that I will try my hardest not to leave you. My very hardest. I promise." _

Greg swallowed painfully. "I promise."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"Open up Kristy...Aw, c'mon, don't be like this. Open up, baby girl!"

Kristy shook her head, her little eyebrows furrowed, her lips squeezed shut.

"Kristina..." Nick warned. "I'm gonna count to three, and if I get to three there'll be trouble. One...two..."

The two – soon to be three – year old moaned and opened her mouth a crack, just wide enough for Nick to slide the medicine spoon into her mouth.

"There we go..." he smiled and she groaned again, holding out her arms. He put the spoon down and allowed her to fall off of the bench into his arms. Her head flopped against his shoulder.

"Daddy..." she whispered in a broken voice.

"Yeah?" Nick asked, trying to screw the lid back on the cough medicine with one hand.

"Still sick!" she sobbed quietly. She'd had a bad cold and tummy ache for the last three days and it was just wearing off. Luckily that was the worst thing that had happened to her, to any of Nick's 'family' since Boxing Day, unless you counted personal cases and the odd cold.

"I know, Kristy, and I'm sorry baby girl. Just give the medicine a chance to work its magic, okay?"

"Not magic, Daddy, yucky!" she complained, rubbing her eyes as the medicine started to make her drowsy.

"Oh, I know, Kristy, I know. But what we're gonna do now is we're gonna go into the living room and we're gonna watch a movie, and I'm not going to go to work tonight, okay?"

"No work?" Kristy asked.

"No work." Nick confirmed.

Kristy nestled closer to her dad. "Fank you."

"It's okay, sweetie." He laughed, carrying her into the living room.

"When Wosa back?" Kristy mumbled as Nick set her down gently on the sofa.

"Rosa will be home in a couple of weeks. As soon as Auntie MJ gets back from London."

"Why Aunie MJ London?" she rubbed her eyes.

"Because she's written a book and she has to go all the way to London to get it published."

"What that?"

"Made into a real book." Nick explained, feeling proud of his older sister. She was a crime novelist, and he was her unofficial head of research.

"Oh. Where London?"

"It's in England."

"Furder dan Texas?"

Nick laughed. "Yeah, it's a lot further away than Texas. To get to England you _have _to go on a plane, and fly over the sea."

"Far away..." Kristy nodded. "Is Wosa in London?"

"No, sweetie, she's in Texas, looking after Lara, Mickey, Eve and Madi." Nick explained. "Because there daddy's in Afghanistan with the army."

"Oh..." Kristy sighed, before her eyes started filling with tears. "Daddy, feel sick still!"

It tugged at Nick's heartstrings to see his little girl hurting but there was nothing he could do. "Okay, Kristy, okay..."

"No! No okay!" she started to cry. "No okay, Daddy, no okay!"

Nick gently placed his hands on the crying toddler's shoulders. "Kristy, I promise, you're gonna be okay, I promise, alright?"

He grabbed the phone and dialled the number of someone who he knew would be off work.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, Lou, it's Nick. Can I speak to Catherine for a second?"

The familiar ex-detective's voice came down the end of the phone. _"Oh, okay, sure. She went down to the lobby to book a massage but she'll be back any minute. How's Kristy?" _

"Ah, she's a bit sick at the moment. How's the first holiday as finances?"

They'd all been shocked when Lou Vartaan proposed to Catherine, even more shocked when she accepted. The wedding date was arranged for July.

_"It's going great, it's great. Hang on...yep, Cath's here right now. Hang on a minute." _There was a rustling noise as the phone changed hands.

Growing impatient, Kristy's keening cries increased.

"Argh!" Nick half groaned, half cried, plucking her off the sofa and bringing her to his hip as Catherine answered the phone.

_"Nick?"_

"Hey, Cath, I'm really sorry to be a pain in the ass but-"

_"Nick, is Kristy okay?"_

"Uh, yeah, that's what I was calling about. She's got a tummy bug and I took her to the doctor the other day, because it hadn't gone on the first day and he said it was just a little bug but she won't stop crying. I don't think she's really ill but I just can't stop her crying?"

_"Is she dehydrated?" _

"I'm not sure, maybe."

_"Okay, just stick a DVD on, give her a cuddle and a drink of water and keep her distracted. Can I speak to her?" _

"Sure, sure." Nick nodded. "Kristy? Auntie Catherine wants to speak to you." He held the phone to the toddlers ear, and the little girl stopped sobbing with a sniffle, holding onto the phone.

"Aunie Cafin?"

_"Hey, sweetie. Your daddy says you're sick." _

"Yeah." She sniffed. "I sick."

_"Aw, no, that's awful! You know what?" _

"What?"

_"I'm in Florida right now, so, I'll send you an extra special present to make you feel better okay? It may take a little while to get there but it will get to you eventually, okay?"_

"Okay...Fank you Aunie Cafin! I love you!"

_"I love you too. Can I talk to your daddy again, please?" _

"Okay!" Kristy pushed the phone back towards her father.

"Hey Cath?"

_"Hey. Just distract her, you should be fine, both of you." _

"Thanks. I'll let you get back to your...vacation!"

_"Nicky, stop making comments that are obviously about my sex life!" _

Nick laughed. "Bye Catherine."

"Later, Nicky!"

Nick hung up and quickly put the phone back down on in the cradle. "What film do you wanna watch?"

"Taggle!"

"Tangled? Again?"

"Taggle!"

"Fine, fine..." Nick placed her back down onto the couch to stick the DVD in the player, before racing to the kitchen and getting a cup of water with a lid. Then he shifted her onto his lap, passed her the drink in time for the start of the movie.

When the end credits began to come on, Nick looked at the toddler on his lap. "Any better?"

She nodded her head of dark brown hair and took her thumb out of her mouth. "Punzel minds me ob Mogan."

"What?"

"Punzel minds me ob Mogan." Kristy repeated.

"Oh, Rapunzel reminds you of Morgan!"

"Dats what I said Daddy!" Kristy sighed.

"I know! How come?"

"Um, because she is small and, and she is blonde and pwetty and she beats up bad guys wib a saucepan!"

"Morgan doesn't beat up bad guys with a saucepan!" Nick frowned.

Kristy shrugged. "Not a saucepan."

The doorbell rang amidst Nick's chuckles. He stood up, setting Kristy back down on the sofa.

"Stay here, baby girl, okay?"

Kristy nodded as Nick put on the special features for her to watch and answered the door.

Peeping through the peephole he opened the door to an anxious looking woman in her forties.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you Nick Stokes?" she asked. Her voice had a weak southern accent to it and Nick looked at her.

"Yes I am, can I help you ma'am?"

"My name is Juliette Adamson."

"Oh." Nick stiffened. John Adamson's wife. The wife of the biological father of his daughter.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment, I'd like to give you something." She pulled a cheque for a thousand dollars out of her pocket and handed it to Nick.

"What...?"

"I have a lot of explaining to do, and I know. I just wanted to say that I am so sorry about what happed to Cassie. It went on right under my nose and..."

"When you found out you kicked her out." Nick finished.

"No." She said firmly. "No, I thought that she was sleeping around when John said she was pregnant, but John told her I kicked her out, I didn't...I couldn't do that. I wanted to tell her that, to apologise to her. I really did love her. But I told myself that it would be too painful, too close to the baby's birth so I would wait until after the trial, when Cassie was stronger, to explain, to offer help and beg forgiveness, but... Then she died. I felt... I can't even tell you Mr Stokes. Then John escaped and god, I could have killed him myself."

"But you haven't divorced him." Nick gritted his teeth. This woman had allowed Cassie to be abused, without doing anything, however maybe without knowing.

"You don't understand. My boys, technically they aren't mine. Biologically or legally. I'm going through a custody battle, but if I divorce him now I lose two kids that I've raised from infants." She explained.

His anger subsiding slightly, Nick sighed. "So you didn't know anything about it? Why are you here now?"

"No, I didn't know anything about it. And I've only just worked up the courage. I'm so, so sorry." She sighed as Kristy ran up.

"Who dis Daddy?" Kristy asked, lifting her arms up.

"Oh, she was a friend of your mommy." Nick said.

"Hi, I'm Juliette." The woman smiled.

"Hi." Kristy said shyly.

"Here, Mr. Stokes, I want you to take this. I saved it up and it's what Kristy deserves, what I owe Cassie." She passed him a cheque for $10,000.

Nick's mouth dropped open. "That's a lot of money-"

"Please. My father owned a newspaper, this is the least I can do. All I'm asking is for you to take the cheque, and maybe consider forgiving me one day?" Juliette asked.

"I think I can do that." Nick nodded. "Thank you very much. And thanks for stopping by. It...it means a lot."

She nodded. "Thank you. Goodbye."

Nick nodded. "Bye."

She walked away and he slowly shut the door. She'd given him a lot to think about.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Sara raced around the house. "You got your lunch?"

"Uh huh!" Eli called back, almost falling down the stairs.

"Careful!" Sara called. "You got everything?"

"Yep!"

"Then let's go! Bye Gil!" Sara yelled.

"Bye Grissom!" Eli called.

"Bye!" Grissom called to both of them from the office where he was on the phone to his newly finished entomology book's potential publisher. "Have a good time, Eli!"

Sara and Eli raced to the car, slipping quickly into the seats. She glanced at him with the mirror. "You got everything?"

"Uh huh!" he nodded his head and Sara nodded at him.

"Let's go!" She pulled out of the driveway, quickly. "First school field trip, here we come!"

Over the past three years Eli flourished. The eight year old still missed his mom sometimes, but he loved Sara, Grissom, Hank and all of his new 'extended family'. He idolised Sara and she loved him. He was a really sporty outdoorsy kid, and his confidence had soured, though his nightmares hadn't completely vanished.

Sara had been at work when Grissom had received a call for a possible publisher, so Sara had raced home to try and get Eli to school in time for his field trip to a Wild West historical centre.

She pulled into the parking lot, just as they started boarding the bus.

Sara grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to his teachers. "Sorry we're late!" she gasped, running a hand over Eli's cornrows, not wanting to embarrass him with a kiss or a hug. "Have a good time, Eli."

She needn't have worried about embarrassing him because he flung his arms around her. She hugged him back and kissed him quickly on the head.

"Bye Sara! Have fun at work!" he grinned, waving at her, boarding the bus.

"Bye!" Sara returned, smiling and waving for a second, before walking backwards towards the car. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and leaned against the car as she watched the bus pull out. What if it crashed? What if something went wrong?

Since when did she worry like this?

Since Eli came to live with her. No question about it. She had become very protective over Eli, though she was careful not to overdo it. And the social worker had been right, Eli was also protective over Sara.

"You're back!" Finn sighed in relief when Sara arrived back at the lab. She'd been the only other grave shift CSI in the lab, as they had a new lead for their triple homicide. It looked like it was going to be a double. "How was Eli?"

"He was fine. A little late but he got on the bus. I didn't have to worry about embarrassing him or whatever..."

"Let me guess, he hugged you?" Finn smiled. Despite having not known Warrick she was very close to Eli, definitely closer than some of the lab techs.

"Yeah." Sara smiled.

"While you were gone, we got a confession."

"Really?" Sara cried.

"Yeah. I was just about to call you, but then you walked through the door. Busted Moyer ten minutes ago. When faced with the evidence, the guy caved."

"That's great." Sara grinned.

"Wanna grab a morning coffee, celebrate?" Finn asked.

Sara considered. "Sure, let's do it."

As they entered Frank's Diner, Finn turned to Sara. "Why do we always come here?"

Sara laughed. "The number of times I've had that conversation...Greg would say its tradition."

"Ah, I see." Finn grinned.

A short while later Sara's phone rang. "Sorry, Finn, one second. Hello? Yeah...That's great! That's really great...Okay...Oh... Gil, this is what you've been working on for years. No, I think you should do it. I think I can handle it... Well, we can talk about it later if you like, but I think you should go. Yeah, we got the guy; I'm with Finn at Franks. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Love you too. Bye." She snapped the phone shut. "Sorry."

"It's not a problem." Finn waved her hand.

"Grissom's got a publisher interested."

"That's great. What was the book about again?"

"It's about entomology and forensic science." Sara smiled. "The two things in life he loves."

"Other than you and Eli." Finn added.

"And his family, yeah." Sara smiled. "Thing is, the publisher wants him to go to London for a week or two to get everything sorted. He doesn't wanna go. Now, Catherine was a single working mom for years, and Nick and Greg are doing it right now, so I think I can handle it for a few days."

Thinking of Sara's parenting skills Finn had to laugh. "I think I have to agree."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

DB walked through the lab to his office. Damn cell phone. He'd tried to pull it out to call his wife and realised that it was still in the office.

He walked in shaking his head and picked it up. He had to be back at work in less than eight hours. Almost the moment it entered his hand it rang.

"Hey Greg, what's up?"

_"Russell, I may have a little problem." _Greg's voice sounded tight.

"What sort of little problem?"

_"Jose Martinez's brother in law Mario Lorenzo is here at my house and he's not happy." _

"What...what do you mean, is he outside, or?"

_"Uh no. He's inside and he's armed." _

Another voice came down the phone. _"Tell him! Tell him where my gun is!" _

_"Okay, okay. Russell, I'm staring down the barrel of a .38 here." _Greg said his voice tight. Russell didn't find it difficult to hear the fear in Greg's voice.

Another little voice joined in and the same fear filled Russell. _"Daddy! Daddy make him go away!" _

_"Make the kid shut up! Shut him up or I'll fucking shoot his ass, I don't care how small he is!" _

Greg's voice came back with even more fear. _"Reuben, shh, okay, just be quiet, it's going to be alright, baby, just shh!" _

Russell listened to the soft sobbing on the end of the line. "Greg? Greg? Where are Morgan and Loeila?"

_"They went to see Jerry and Ben." _Greg replied.

Jerry and Ben. The gold fish Greg kept in the back room. _Lorenzo didn't know. _

The lightly accented voice yelled down the phone. _"Tell him! Tell him what I want!" _

_"Russell, he wants the evidence from his niece's case, all of it." _

"But her murder was never an official investigation, there is no evidence."

Russell listened to what sounded almost like a scuffle. _"Give the phone to me white boy! Give it to me now!" _

_"Okay, okay!" Greg's voice grew quieter. _

_"Right, right, pick up the boy! Pick him up! Okay...hold him in front of you! Hold him in front of you! In _front of you! _If you try anything I will shoot you through him, and don't even think I won't!" _Mario Lorenzo yelled. Then he spoke into the phone. _"You bring me the evidence from Maria and Caliope Martinez' murder case, and you bring it to this house right away or I will shoot this little boy and his daddy! You bring it to me now! Any sirens, any cops and I will shoot before you can knock on the door! When you get outside, and you alone, you call Greg's cell phone. Otherwise they both die. The trip to the evidence locker and then to this house will take less than thirty minutes, that's all the time you have! I want all the evidence, even the gun." _

The phone hung up. "Damn it!" Russell swore. Plan, plan, plan?

Exactly half an hour later he reached the door of Greg's house.

"Where's your boss, huh? He doesn't care! I'm gonna pop your kid, man!" a voice yelled from inside the house.

Russell almost dropped the evidence box he was holding in an attempt to grab his cell phone.

"Please, don't!" Greg cried from inside. "He's just a kid, please!"

"Caliope was only a kid!" the voice practically screamed. "She didn't hurt anyone, she didn't hurt anyone!"

"Please put the gun down!"

"NO!" a gunshot cracked through the air, followed by a short scream from Reuben.

DB lifted the phone to his ear, fear stabbing his pounding heart. He knew back-up was just around the corner, but would they be too late.

"You sonofabitch!" Greg cried. "Reuben, Reuben!"

The phone rang inside and DB sighed in relief as Mario picked up the phone. "_Hello?"_

"I have your evidence, Mario, was anybody hurt?"

_"Open the door! Come inside, and come into the living room!" _

DB obeyed, walking slowly through the hall into the living room. As he passed the hall he saw Morgan's face poke out and look at him, Loeila in her arms. The woman's hand was clamped over the toddler's mouth to try and keep her quiet, but there were tears streaming down both of their faces. DB nodded ever so slightly and turned into the living room.

His blood froze at the sight of Greg on the floor, crouched protectively over Reuben, who wasn't moving. No, scrap that, the little boy was convulsing excessively.

_Oh, god, was Reuben having a seizure? _

The dread rose when Russell saw the blood both on and around the toddler. It wasn't a seizure.

Reuben had been shot.

Greg's face snapped up to look at DB almost pleadingly.

"Here's your evidence."

The man snatched it off of him, keeping the gun trained on Reuben and Greg.

"This box is empty!" he roared, arming the gun once more. Greg lowered himself to try and shield Reuben again and covered his face.

"No, no, it's not, look inside!" Russell urged.

The furious man ripped the lid off of the box. "Three finger prints?"

"It was never an official case, the only info we had that it existed was given to us by a man who is now dead." Russell explained, holding his hands up.

"Then you lied! This isn't evidence from the case if there is no case!" the man roared, firing a shot at the wall behind Greg's head. Reuben started crying a pained, frightened cry.

"Please, just put the gun down!" Russell begged. "We don't want anybody to get hurt."

"Give me that kid!"

Greg's head snapped up, his eyes on fire. "What?"

"Give me the kid, now!" Mario barked. "I'm going to use him to get me out of here, and I'll leave him for you later."

"No. Way." Anger flared through Greg's veins.

"That's not going to happen, Mario, why don't you put the gun down-" DB started.

"Just give me the fucking kid!"

"Over my dead body." Greg growled.

"If that's the way you want it I'll blow your brains out right now..."

Reuben wailed, grabbing onto his father's jacket. "Daddy no!"

A siren wailed in the background and Russell took a deep breath. Looked like the listening Brass had decided it was time to move. He wanted to reach with his gun himself but he couldn't risk it with the gun pointed at Greg and Reuben.

The man fired once more and leapt out of the window. Greg grunted in pain.

"Greg!" Russell groaned, racing over, aiming his own gun at the window.

Greg gritted his teeth. "I'm fine, I'm fine, it's a scratch!" he sat up and looked at the blood beneath his son's with a frozen heart. "Reuben? Reubs! Reuben, wake up!"

The scared little boy opened his big eyes. "Daddy?"

"I'm here Reuben, I'm here." Greg peeled up his son's shirt. He sighed in relief. A graze. Just a graze. A deep graze, and a hell of a lot worse than anything Greg would ever want to see his kid go through.

"Daddy? I gon die?"

"No, no, Reuben, no. You're gonna be just fine, I promise." He smiled tearfully, stroking his son's hair with one hand and gently pulling the clothing away from the wound. "Russell, there's a first aid kit in the cabinet to your left, will you grab it for me?"

"Sure, sure. Morgan, it's all clear, do you wanna come in here?" Russell called, throwing Greg the kit and checking outside of the window.

Morgan ran through the hall, Loeila on her hip. "Oh my god, Greg, Reuben-"

Loeila started screaming and it increased Reuben's crying.

"Okay, Reubs, this might sting a tiny bit..." Greg said in a soothing voice, dabbing quickly at the scrape with a hygiene wipe.

_"DADDY IT HURTS!" _Reuben screamed and Greg flinched away.

"I know, I'm so sorry, but I gotta get that fixed up so it doesn't get worse."

"But daddy, you're making it worse!" Reuben sobbed.

"Hey, Greg, Greg!" Russell snapped his fingers. "You gotta do it, Greg, you know that!"

"Reuben, it will get a lot worse if you don't let me do this, okay?" Greg swallowed and dabbed at it gently again. Reuben whimpered but didn't scream again. "There we go..."

The officers burst into the house as Greg finished wrapping the white bandage around his son's waist.

As soon as his dad was finished Greg flung himself into his father's arms. "Daddy!" he sobbed, hiding his face in his dad's neck. "Daddy I scared!"

"I know Reubs, I got you, I got you. You're going to be okay, I promise." Greg whispered, hugging his son to his chest tightly. "Lola, Morgan, are you okay?"

"I okay daddy." Loeila sniffed. "Reuben got an owie."

"Yeah, he does." Greg whispered. He held out his arm. "Come here."

Morgan set the little girl down and she ran to her father. He pressed a kiss into her hair, hugging her to him tightly.

"Greg, we should get you out of the house." DB said. Greg nodded, standing up with Reuben clinging to him.

Only half an hour later Greg was taken to a colourful hospital room where his tired son was lying in a warm bed.

"Daddy!" he mumbled upon seeing his father.

"You did a good job, sir, your son should be just fine." The doctor assured him.

Loeila on his hip, Greg ran to the bedside. "Reuben... Oh, Reuben, I'm sorry."

"Why Daddy?"

Greg just shook his head and stroked his son's hair.

"Daddy, not your fault." Reuben insisted. "You saved me, Daddy. You potect me!"

Greg laughed quietly. "Yeah, I'll protect you, Reubs."

Loeila rested her head on her dad's shoulder. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Peese don't let dat man into da house again, I don' like him." She said solemnly.

Greg laughed breathlessly again. "I won't. I promise, he's not going to come anywhere near you again."

_And if it means I'll have to kill the guy, so be it. _

**Ooh, little bit of the angry Greg! I'm sorry if that seems slightly OOC, there is a reason for it and it is also a spur of the moment thought so I don't think it's too bad. **

**Again, sorry for the skip in time and the really long chapter!**

**Please, please review?**

**Please?**


	14. Chapter 14: Memories Are Hard To Bare

**Thanks so much for the support and reviews! Here is another update, hopefully it's okay. I hope we're getting into it now? Again, forgive mistakes, it's a quickie. **

**This is taking time I don't have at the moment :-( so I highly hope it's worth it! Sorry, another really bad chappy title, subject to change**

**Read, Enjoy, Review!**

**Chapter Fourteen # Memories Are Hard to Bare #**

Sara and Finn raced through the hospital, colliding with DB in the waiting room.

"What happened?" Sara cried.

"Mario Lorenzo, the supposed brother in law of Jose Martinez, broke into Greg's house; he wanted the evidence from his sister and niece's case. He made Greg call me. When I arrived, he shot Reuben before I could get my phone out of my pocket. I was running late – there was a hold up at the evidence locker, and not just because there wasn't any evidence to start with seeing as it wasn't an actual case."

"Oh my god, Reuben, Greg, are they okay?" Sara gasped as Finn gripped her arm.

"Yeah, the bullet just grazed him. He'll be just fine. Doesn't mean he deserves even that though. I think Greg's more torn up about it than he was."

"Can we see them?" Sara asked.

"Oh, yeah, Morgan's in there now, I'm just leaving. It's Nick's night off so I'm going to call in Wendy and get started processing Greg's house. I want this guy, and I want him bad."

"You know, I'll join you in a little bit, as soon as I'm sure Reuben's okay." Finn nodded.

"Why Greg? Why now?" Sara asked.

"I don't know!" Russell ran a hand over his face. "I don't know."

Sara ran out of patience. "I'm sorry; I have to see Greg... Excuse me."

She ducked past Russell and ran into the room he pointed at. Instantly she saw Reuben in a bed that was much too large for him. Greg was next to the bed on one side with Loeila on his lap and Morgan on the other side, holding Reuben's hand. Greg stood up when he saw Sara.

"Oh my god, all of you! Thank god you're okay!" she sighed, hugging Greg tightly. She could feel him shaking.

"Audie Sawa!" Loeila cried, pushing in between Greg and Sara. "Me hug, me hug!"

"Okay Lola!" Sara hugged the little girl and looked at Reuben who was drowsy but awake in the bed. She fluffed up his sandy hair. "How're you doing, buddy?"

"I okay fank you Audie Sara!" he smiled. "Did you come to see me?"

"As a matter of fact I did."

Reuben's face flushed with pleasure. "Fank you!"

"You're welcome." Sara smiled.

Loeila tugged Sara's hair lightly to get her attention. "Sawa? Bad man came into our house! He huwt Weuben an' Daddy an' he scawed me. He scawed me a lot. But Audie Mogan took me away from the bad man so I didn't get huwt."

"Sara?" Reuben interrupted her response. "Um, um, daddy won't beliebe me and Audie Mogan!"

"About what?" Sara frowned.

"He finks it's his fault!"

Sara looked at Greg. "Greg-"

"I opened the door." Greg said in a low voice. "I just opened the door."

"Greg. Stop it." Sara pulled Greg into another hug. After a moment, Loeila protested.

"Squishy!"

"I'm sorry, Loeila." Sara replied, letting go. "Greg, this isn't your fault."

"We've been trying to tell him that for the past hour." Morgan piped up for the first time.

Sara smiled at her. "How are you holding up?"

"Shaken, but I'll be okay." She nodded.

"Hey guys." Finn said announcing her arrival.

"Finn!" Loeila and Reuben yelled in delight at the same time. The twins and Kristy loved Finn just as much as Eli did.

"Finn I got...I got an owie!" Reuben announced. "From da bad guy! Da bad guy was very scawy Finn; he was in our house!"

"That's awful! But you know, both of you, that it doesn't matter how many bad guys come after you." Finn said, perching on the edge of the bed. "Because, your Daddy will always be there to protect you and look after you. Always. And if he goes slack in that department I'll come in and kick his sorry bum back into gear."

Reuben and Loeila both grinned and Greg smiled gratefully at Finn who winked. Through her three and a half years with the team she'd settled into the team into a unique position that Greg was certain no one else was would be able to fill.

She was almost like a big sister, teasing but constructively, but she also flirted mildly and shamelessly with all her male colleagues. Eli, Kristy and the twins all thought Finn was great – she had the cool, adventurous aunt thing down to a tee.

"So now I'm gonna go to your house and get everything sorted out so you can go home soon, okay?"

"Okay Audie Finn!" Reuben beamed at her. "I love you!"

"I love all five of you." Finn beamed back. "I'll be back soon." She promised, waving at the door.

A nurse walked into the room with a doctor and a small tray.

The doctor cleared his throat politely. "Mr. Sanders, I would recommend that your son get's some sleep, I take it he probably has naps anyway at his age?"

"Uh yeah."

"Daddy, I no wanna sleep!" Reuben cried, his little hand tightening around Morgan's. "No sleep!"

"Just a little nap, Reubs. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I won't leave." Greg assured his son as Morgan squeezed Reuben's hand.

"I've brought a mild sedative that should keep nightmares away and give him a wonderful sleep for a few hours. Would you like your daughter to have a nap, too?"

Greg swallowed. He didn't want to dope his children up...

"Mr. Sanders, they've both experienced an incredibly scary situation, and their minds are very vulnerable right now. It is my professional opinion that they should receive the medicine on this occasion."

"What medication is it?" Sara asked, glancing at Greg as he hesitated.

"Benzodicodazol." The doctor replied.

"That's a drug designed for children, right?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, it is." The doctor nodded.

After considering the drug for a moment, Greg agreed.

The nurse slipped the medication into the IV in Reuben's hand. Instantly his drowsiness took over and he began to slip into sleep. The doctor prepared a small syringe and walked towards Loeila who screamed.

"No daddy, no needles, no!" She panicked, gripping onto her father's arms.

"Lola, look at me. Look at me!" Greg insisted. "There we go, there we go..." he stroked the side of her face softly as the nurse subtly put the needle in.

"Oh!" her mouth popped open in a surprise.

"There we go, that wasn't so bad, baby girl." Greg said as Loeila fell against his chest.

"Da...ddy?"she mumbled, trying to fight the drugs.

"I'm here, I'll be here when you wake up. I won't leave. Don't fight it baby girl, just relax..." Greg murmured back, stroking her hair softly. She yawned widely and was asleep before her mouth closed, though somehow she found time to stick her thumb in her mouth.

The nurse cleared her throat quietly."Now, it's probably best if they aren't surrounded by visitors, especially as they're asleep..."

"I really should go call Gil, he may not ever show that he worries but he really does." Sara smiled and left.

"You too Miss." The doctor said to Morgan.

"Uh, please, she's my, um, fiancée! She's practically their mom, please let her stay!" Greg begged.

The doctor and nurse rolled their eyes and left their private room.

"Fiancée?" Morgan raised her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, I really am, I just... I can't do this alone right now. Do you mind staying?" Greg asked, unintentionally and unconsciously hitting Morgan with his best puppy dog eyes.

She smiled. "Of course not. They're amazing kids and it's not the first time I've played romance with a co-worker."

"Hodges." Greg nodded, gently laying Loeila down next to her brother and tucking her softly under the blankets. She sighed softly, her little arm wrapping over Reuben. "Morgan, thank you so, so, so much for keeping Lola safe today."

"Thanks for keeping me safe. It's not a problem, okay?"

Greg nodded, staring down at his hands.

"Greg?" Morgan's eyes bulged. "Greg, are you crying?"

Greg shook his head but when he looked up at Morgan his eyes were red rimmed and full of tears.

"He was...my son was... Someone shot him, Morgan! And I just can't stop thinking about Jason Morley..."

"Who's Jason Morley?" Morgan asked.

"A few years ago...just after Warrick died... There was a big shoot out in this little neighbourhood... A seven year old boy got caught in the crossfire... His dad wouldn't let his body go. I had to persuade him to let his dead seven year old son be taken away by the coroner. The little boy was called Jason Morley. He got caught in the crossfire. Reuben's got caught in the crossfire because of my job and... Morgan, I could have lost him. I nearly lost him..." Greg's voice broke and his head flopped into his hands.

He was ashamed to cry in front of Morgan, but he couldn't hold it in anymore. He could have lost his baby. He sobbed into his hands, and he couldn't help but draw parallels with the broken sobbing of Jason Morley's broken father.

Suddenly he felt a pair of warm, small but strong arms wrap around his shaking body. Greg allowed Morgan to pull him towards her.

Morgan didn't know what to do other than to hug Greg to her chest tightly. She rested her chin on his head, almost as if he was her child. "You know what. You almost did lose him. But you didn't, Greg, you protected him and that is matters. You didn't lose him. You did everything you could."

"Wasn't enough!" Greg sobbed.

"It was enough to save his life." Morgan said firmly.

Greg took a deep breath. "Thank you."

"No problem." Morgan shook her head and Greg stood up, wrapping his arms around her.

"Really, Morgan, thank you. For being here, for helping me, for looking after Lola..." He whispered. "I have no idea what I'd do without you."

"Crawl into a dark hole somewhere..." She started, before changing her mind and hugging him tightly. "It's not a problem. Where else would I be?"

Greg peeled back and stared at Morgan. "Really?"

Morgan rolled her eyes. "No, I'm lying to you."

"Honestly, though Morgan, I'm so grateful. It means a lot to me."

"And honestly, Greg it's no problem." Morgan smiled.

Greg looked at the two children lying entwined on the bed. "God..."

"Don't even think about it, Greg." Morgan said firmly, her own eyes falling on the twins. She laughed softly. "They look like angels. Off of a Christmas card or something."

Greg couldn't help but smile. "Yeah."

"You have too beautiful kids." Morgan smiled. "I guess Lisa wasn't too ugly."

Greg shrugged. "I've seen a lot prettier."

Morgan fiddled with the patient information seat on the side of the bed. _Reuben Warrick Mark Hojem Sanders. _"Greg, Mark was your dad's name, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Tell me about him." Morgan asked as they both sat down.

"Why?"

"I'm interested. And nosy."

"Well, his name was Mark Jakob Sanderson. He was born in Harstad, Norway and his family moved to California, and his father shortened the family name to Sanders. My dad grew up, met my mom, got married at eighteen and had me a year later. He was a pretty good father. Looked after me, taught me how to ride a bike, play sports. When I was six he left to do a tour of Iraq. He came back, went away again... And he did the same thing almost all of my life, progressing up the ranks... Then, about...about eight years ago I got beaten up on the job. Strange, doesn't feel that long ago..."

Morgan frowned. "What do you mean, you got beat up?"

"It was bad. I also killed a collage kid in self defence. I hit him with my truck."

"Demetrius James? I heard about that, that it wasn't your fault... I had no idea that you got beaten up though." Morgan frowned.

"I was in hospital a while...well, about three weeks."

"Oh my god!" Morgan's mouth fell open.

Greg shrugged. "Anyway, my dad told me that he loved me in the hospital, and then he left again. He's missing in action. Presumed dead. My Papa Olaf told me when I got the twins that he was going to quit but he had to do one more tour to double his salary, so..."

Morgan sighed. "Greg, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to pry."

Greg snorted. "Of course you did. You're nosy, Morgan Brody, and it's one of the things that makes you so good at your job. And one of the things that sometimes makes you a good person to talk to."

She opened her mouth to retort before closing it again and smiling sheepishly. "Okay. I guess I am."

"When the guy came to tell us he was missing, do you know what the first thing I thought was?" Greg said softly, staring into space with the memories.

"What?"

"Grissom will find him. Just ask Grissom. Grissom could find anyone." He laughed softly and humourlessly. "The next thing to come into my mind was that I'd never give up. I swore that I'd just, well, wait I guess. And that if I found a way to find him I'd take it. I didn't wanna believe that my dad was dead, y'know? Now I've accepted that he's dead. If not dead then he's not coming back anytime soon anyway."

Morgan sighed. "What...what about your mom? What does she think?"

"She's not going to stop believing until she sees a body. 'I've seen the film Castaway!'" Greg raised the pitch of his voice for the last part.

"She said that?"

"Well, not in those words."

"You miss him." It wasn't a question.

Greg looked her dead in the eye for the first time in minutes. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

_"They took my babies?" _

_"Lisa, calm down-"_

_"Calm down? Sir, they're four days old!" she shrieked. "They t...t...took them?" _

_"Yes. Enrique Martinez." _

_"ENRIQUE MARTINEZ? That fucking drug lord has my babies!" _

_"I don't know why you're so worked up, Lisa, you didn't want them, they were just an accident now they're out of the way." _

_Lisa shrieked in anger and slapped her boss around the face. _

_"Cooke! Two week suspension!" _

"No! _I have to get my babies back, he's gonna kill them!" she sobbed. _

_"We'll look into it when we can." _

_Her boss' face disappeared and transformed into that of Enrique Martinez. _

_"You what, bitch, you're gonna shoot me? You're hands are shaking so hard you'll just hit little baby here." The man held a tiny three month old girl up to his face. _

_Within two seconds Lisa's finger tightened around the trigger tightly. The man fell to the floor and the woman caught the baby girl before she hit the floor. Then she kicked open the door and grabbed a baby boy the same size as the girl out of a crib that was right next to a steaming beaker. _

_Her son. She double checked the building and ran outside, strapping the two babies into the car seats and speeding to Vegas. When she pulled up outside the apartment building she unstrapped the seats from the car, wrapped a necklace around her neck that would vibrate if anyone came within two metres of her car. _

_Then she knocked on Greg Sanders' door. _

Alyssa awoke with a soft gasp. She groaned and flicked on her light. The trouble with her nightmares is that they weren't exactly nightmares. They were memories.

She slipped out of bed and made her way into the kitchen to grab some coffee. Her phone rang and she picked it up lazily.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, Alyssa, it's Catherine..." _

"Hey Cath, what's up?"

_"I just got a call from Portson, they need us in now." _

"Okay...any idea why?"

_"Jeremiah Sampson's murder, the one that got tied up with the prisoners of war in Afghanistan." _

"That case went cold in my first few months!"

_"I know, but apparently it's urgent." _

"Okay, just let me get dressed, then I'll be in."

_"I'll see you soon." _

Within the hour Alyssa was at work. Catherine met her walking down the hall. "Hey."

"Hey."

They walked in to look at James Portson, their boss. "Glad you could make it."

"What have you got for us?" Catherine asked.

"Jeremiah Sampson, 52, murdered in his own home three years ago. Did a tour of Afghanistan eight years ago and through our investigation was suspected of betraying a group of five of his colleagues, none of whom have been heard of since."

"I remember." Alyssa nodded. "What have you got that's new for us?"

"A dead body has turned up in dumpster three blocks away from here with the body of one of the men inside. Callum McPherson."

"Really?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Metro kicked it over to us as soon as they made an ID."

"Remind me of the other missing men's names?" Catherine asked.

The man looked at the file. "Pedro Martinez, James Durrant, Mark Sanderson and OJ Williams."

"Let's go to work." Catherine grinned.

**please review**


	15. Chapter 15: Hide and Seek

**Thank you for my three reviews, you guys (AA, MARYMEL AND WARRICKLOVESSARA22) are the bestest peeps ever! But sadly it was only three out of 105 visitors. Thats not very many. Therefore I guess that it wasn't a very good chapter. I'm very sorry, and I hope that this one's better :-(**

**It's a little short, but hopefully it's not too bad. **

**Sorry for any mistakes. **

**Read. Enjoy. REVIEW!**

**Chapter Fifteen # Hide and Seek #**

"And you're sure you're all okay?"

_"Yeah..." _Greg sighed.

"Thank god. I would come right in but Kristy's still ill and I don't wanna pass anything onto Lola or Reubs, especially in a hospital."

_"That's okay," _Greg said. _"I'll tell them." _

"Tell them I'm glad they're okay." Nick said, before finishing up with Greg, all the while pulling his windows shut and locking them, before dead bolting the door.

"Daddy, wha's da matter?" Kristy asked with her thumb in her mouth and her blanket or 'blankie' that she'd got from Greg when she was a baby. She was still firmly attached to it.

"Oh, baby girl!" he sighed, swinging her through the air onto his hip. "Reuben's got an owie."

"Oh...why?"

Nick sighed. He didn't want to tell her what happened but Kristy was very close with the twins and no doubt they would tell Kristy exactly what happened. "A bad man used a gun."

"A bang-bang?" she cried. "Daddy I no like bang-bangs!"

"I know, and that's a good thing, Kristy. You promise me that you don't ever play with guns, Kristina."

"I pomise daddy!" Kristy chimed. "You don' need to wowy 'cause I don' like bang-bangs."

"Good..." Nick grinned, opening the drawer which contained his gun. His face fell. "Kristy?"

"Yes, daddy."

"Where's my gun?"

"I don' know daddy." Kristy widened her eyes as far as she could.

Nick strode right over to her and grabbed her shoulders gently but firmly. "Kristina McBride Stokes. You do _not _touch my gun for _any _reason! When and where did you take it?"

Kristy avoided her dad's eyes with a quivering lip. "I didn't." She whimpered quietly.

"Kristina!" he yelled, shaking her shoulders, though not hard enough to hurt her. "Where. Is. My. Gun?"

"Daddy dop!" she cried tearfully.

"Where is it Kristina? You _know _that you don't touch my gun!"

"I didn' wan' you to get hurt! Uncie Greg said dat people wib guns hurt demselbes as much as dey hurt ober people!" She wailed.

"Kristy, where is it?"

"In da bin in da gawage." She whispered.

"Damn it!" Nick cried, racing into the garage. When did he last take out the trash? He looked into the bin and to his relief it was on top, covered by a small napkin. He shook his head and walked back into the room. Kristy was hiding behind the couch, crying quietly. Nick sighed, putting the phone back into the drawer.

He walked over to the couch. "Kristy?"

"I sowy, daddy!" she sniffed tearfully. "I didn' wan' you to get huwt, daddy, because I love you."

Nick sighed. "I know, Kristy, but you must never, ever, _ever _touch my gun. _Ever! _It's dangerous, Kristy, it could hurt you."

"But-"

"I know how to handle it so that it _doesn't _hurt me. Promise me, Kristy. Promise me to never, ever touch it. Please?" Nick begged.

"Otay daddy. I pomise." She nodded, before pausing. "Daddy? Do you still love me?"

"Kristina!" Nick frowned. "Of course I do. C'mon here."

Kristy instantly bundled into his open arms, nestling into his neck and shoulder.

"There we go. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too." Kristy sighed. "I vewy sowy, daddy."

"It's okay. As long as you never do it again."

"I won'."

"Good girl. That's my good girl." Nick smiled, rubbing Kristy's back gently. It didn't matter to him that by blood she wasn't his. That didn't matter one bit. It didn't make a difference at all. She was his daughter, to love and to look after. To protect.

Even if it meant scaring her away from his gun, however much it hurt him to scare her at all.

"Kristy?"

"Yeah Daddy?"

"You know that I love you."

"Uh huh Daddy. But I love you more."

Nick laughed. "Oh no you don't."

"Oh yeah I do!"

"Oh no you don't!"

"Daddy stop!" she giggled, pressing her face into his. He smiled at her, resting his forehead on hers.

"Okay." He smiled.

"Daddy, can we play a game?"

"What do you want to play?"

"Hide and seek!" she chimed instantly.

"Okay then."

"I hide, you seek!" Kristy ordered. "Please?"

"Okay." Nick lowered Kristy to the floor and closed his eyes. "One...two...three...four..."

By the time he reached twenty the giggles had died down. He stared around the house and exhaled softly.

He searched the usual places first – the closet, the laundry basket, the toybox... all tiny places that Nick would have hated.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are." Nick called with a grin, throwing clothes into the laundry basket. A soft breeze hit his back and he froze, turning towards her bedroom. "Kristy?"

The curtains swayed tauntingly in the breeze next to the wide open window.

Nick started to jog into the room. "Kristy?"

He leaned out of the window and to his relief saw no sign of his daughter. He started to pull the window closed.

"Daddy!" a small voice cried with fear.

"Kristy?" he frowned.

"Daddy, I scawed!"

"Kris, where are you?"

"Hewe!" Kristy cried from on top of the closet.

Nick sighed in relief. "I thought you were outside. How'd you get up there?"

"I climbeded up on the bedside table!" she cried. "Daddy, I wanna get down now!"

"Okay, baby girl!" Nick held up his arms. Suddenly the cupboard burst open and Nick cried out as a brute force shoved him backwards. Kristy screamed loudly on top of the cupboard as a large masked man smashed his fist into her father's face.

_"DADDY!" _

Nick clambered up and launched himself at the man turning towards the closet. He wrenched him away from Kristy and threw him to the floor. Before he could react he was staring at a .38.

Nick froze. If he kicked the gun out of the man's hand the bullet would fly towards Kristy.

The man pulled the trigger five times and leapt out of the window.

"Kristy!" Nick cried.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" she sobbed repeatedly.

"Kristy, did he hit you?" Nick cried in desperation.

"No Daddy. Daddy, you bleeding!" she wailed.

Nick touched his nose. "I'm okay, it's just a nosebleed. Just a nosebleed. Stay here, Kristy, do not move! If anyone comes in, scream, okay?"

"Otay Daddy, peese be quick!"

"I will, baby girl, I will!"

Nick raced down to the hall and snatched his gun and cell phone out of the door, before running back upstairs. He cleared the bedroom and the rest of upstairs before sliding his gun into his belt and holding up his arms. "Come down, Kristy."

"Can't daddy, can't!" she cried. "Daddy, I scawed!"

"I know, just slide to the edge...keep sliding, keep sliding!"

Kristy screamed loudly as she fell off of the closet. Nick caught her instantly. "I got you sweetie, I got you."

She wrapped her arms and legs around his body and sobbed.

"Control, control, this is Charlie Oh-Five Stokes, a man just broke into my house..." he quickly explained the situation.

"Why was he here Daddy? Why?" Kristy sobbed, cringing into her dad's shoulder. "Is he coming back?"

"I don't know baby, he I don't know." Nick murmured, one hand wrapped around his gun, the other softly stroking her hair. "I'll keep you safe, baby girl, I'll keep you safe!"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"What have you got for us?" Catherine asked the FBI's AV tech Connie Fields. She wasn't Archie, but she was very, very, good.

"Well... All of the prisoners were specialist operatives in various fields, and they all have families apart from Mark Sanderson." Alyssa read aloud from the case file.

"This video got sent anonymously to us." Kevin Butler, their boss, sighed, leading them over to a computer. "We think that someone involved is getting cold feet."

Connie shook her head. "It's not pretty."

_The screen lit up, revealing a man tied to a chair. His hazel green eyes revealed nothing but exhaustion, and they were half covered by a mop of filthy hair that looked as if any other time it would be blonde or light brown maybe. _

_His body was covered in bruises, burns and cuts, though he wasn't as skinny as Catherine thought he could be. He was half naked; an old pair of khakis covered his lower half but he was wearing nothing else. _

_"Say _hello_ Mark!" A masked man sang. _

_The man in the chair, Mark, stared blankly ahead. The masked man sighed and smashed a fist into the man's jaw. _

_"Hello." The word escaped his lips with a defiant scowl. _

_"Why do you still misbehave?" _

_Mark was silent. _

_"What is the capital of Texas?" the masked man growled. _

_Mark's lips remained closed, his head dipping down. Catherine could tell that he was exhausted beyond belief. _

_The masked man through a vial of liquid towards him. Mark screamed as the acid burnt into his face._

_"Austin!" he screamed. _

_"What is the capital of England?"_

_"London." Mark responded wearily, receiving a slap anyway. _

_The FBI agents watched as the man asked Mark ten more questions, punishing him when he did answer and punishing him worse when he didn't. _

_"What is the name of your son?" _

_"Mark didn't have a son..." Alyssa frowned. _

_"I don't have a son." Mark whispered. _

_"Oh, you just disown him, just like that?" _

_Mark's jaw twitched. _

_"Well, you know what? I know the name of your son. It doesn't matter now, Mark, however much you disown him, or try to protect him. You've shielded him for eight long years but I've finally tracked down your son. Happy?" _

_For the first time a flash of fear spread across Mark's face. _

_"You changed your name outside of the army, probably to stop this from happening. But I found him. Greg, right? Gregory Hojem Sanders?" _

Catherine froze, and Alyssa turned to her.

_"No!" Mark whispered in a broken voice on screen. "Leave...him...be..." _

_"Would you like him to come visit you? I can arrange that." _

_"Don't!" Mark croaked quickly. "Don't, please!" _

_The man laughed. "I'll just pay him a visit then." _

_Mark mustered every ounce of energy he had left and yelled. "No-"_

The screen went black.

Butler folded his arms. "We should find the son; it may take a while to track him dow-"

"No need." Catherine whispered. "I'll call him."

She immediately flipped up her phone and pressed seven on her speed dial.

"He's one of her CSIs in Vegas." Alyssa explained to their boss as her partner bit her lip. Catherine waited impatiently as the phone rang. Finally a voice picked up.

_"Aundie Cafwin?" _

"Hey, Reuben." She couldn't help but smile. "Is your daddy there?"

_"Uh, he's asweep. We're in hopital!"_

"Why are you in hospital?" Catherine's heart started pounding.

_"Bad man shot Weben wiv a bang-bang."_ Loeila piped up.

"Oh my god-"

_"Is otay Aundie Cafwin, is otay, I'm awight! Just a big scwatch!"_ Reuben soothed. _"Daddy's asweep next to da bed. I wake him up now."_

There was a yelp down the end of the line, followed by a short scuffle.

_"Hello?"_ Greg's groggy voice picked up.

"Why didn't you call me?" Catherine cried.

_"Wha- Cath? Oh! I'm sorry I just sorta... Forgot. Did Nick tell you?"_

"No, Reuben did." Catherine sighed. "Greg, I have to tell you something."

_ "Shoot. Though I could really use some good news right now, if you have any." _

Catherine sighed again. "Greg, is your father in the army?"

_ "My father?"_ Greg sounded shocked. "_Yeah...but he didn't use the name Sanders, he used-"_

"Sanderson?"

"Yeah... Cath, what are you getting at? My dad's presumed dead."

Catherine steadied herself. "Greg, I don't think your dad is dead."

There was a long pause.

_"What?"_ Greg sounded almost childlike.

"I'm working this case..." She described to him the basics of the case and the video that they'd seen.

_"He's alive?" _Catherine knew Greg so well that she could detect the small yearning to hope in his voice.

"We think so, but we're not sure. The man said he might pay you a visit, those words exactly. I'm sorry, Greg, I really..."

Greg's voice went quite. "So I'm in even more trouble? There's some other psycho who could be coming after my kids and me?"

"Possibly Greg, I don't know..." She bit he lip. "You know, whatever happens, we're gonna make sure no one hurts you or the twins."

_"Aka you'll try your hardest." _Greg sighed.

"Catherine?" Butler called quietly. He held up a whiteboard with a few words scrawled on them.

Catherine nodded and Alyssa's heart fell through her stomach.

"Greg? You still there?"

_"No, I'm waiting in Hawaii for you to tell me whether or not I'm gonna die." _

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Greg. We're coming to Vegas!"

**I HAVE LIKE NO SPARE TIME AND WRITING TAKES UP MUCHO OF IT SO PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAA AAAAAAAASE REVIEW! **

**Please?**


	16. Chapter 16: Sorry For Everything

**Thanks for my reviews! :-) they mean the world to me, honestly! Thank you thank you thank you! I hope this chappy is up to your standards, please let me know. **

**This chapter is named after another Dead By April song 'Sorry For Everything' so anyone who feels like it, feel free to check it out. I think it fits the first half of this chapter well. **

**Anyway, sorry for any mistakes. Read. Enjoy. Review.**

**Chapter Sixteen # Sorry For Everything # **

"Cath, I can't do this." Alyssa said quietly as they sat in the airport cafe.

"Do what?"

"Come to Vegas with you."

"Why not?" Catherine frowned.

Alyssa took a deep breath and started to talk. "Because I followed orders. I slept with a man and I got pregnant. I told you that. But when my twins were three days old they were taken from the hospital by a drug dealer called Enrique Martinez. I spent three months looking for them and as soon as I found them I got in a car, and I drove for days and days until I reached their dad's house. I pretended to be a bimbo, I cracked the car windows, I grabbed a set of keys that would tell me if anyone was within four metres of my car and I knocked on the door. I was going to tell him everything I would be allowed to, but he wasn't alone, so I played the bimbo role and let him think that's what I did." By the time she had finished, tears were rolling down her cheeks and Catherine's mouth was hanging open.

"You're Lisa Cooke?"

"I was." She whispered. Catherine's head was spinning. Alyssa was Lisa? Alyssa was the woman that...

"Why did you do it? To Greg?"

"I was ordered to. And I felt awful, every step of the way, and he didn't deserve it, and I asked so many times, but they wouldn't tell me why. I wasn't supposed to get pregnant, and I didn't know I was for a long time. Catherine, I'm so sorry for what I did, but I can't go and ruin their lives again."

Catherine studied her friend. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you have to side with Greg because he's the innocent one here."

"I don't have to side with anyone." Catherine frowned. The woman in front of her had hurt Greg, but looking back from Alyssa's point of view, Catherine understood. Orders are orders, however much you hated them. "You didn't name them because you didn't have time..."

Alyssa nodded.

"Lyss? You're coming with me."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Alyssa asked for the fifty seventh time, glancing at the cars Catherine had identified as Morgan's and Nick's as Catherine knocked on Greg's door.

"Yes." Greg opened the door looking wearier than Catherine had ever seen him.

It took him two seconds to recognise Alyssa. He froze. "What are you doing here?"

Alyssa swallowed and glanced at Catherine, who spoke up. "Greg-"

"Catherine is this-"

"I know. I've known for about four hours."

"Daddy!" Loeila called, running up towards him.

"Audie Catherine!" She cried happily, racing forward. Greg lifted her off of the floor and onto his hip.

"Daddy!" She scowled. "Down!"

"What are you doing here?" Greg repeated.

"Will you let her explain, please?" Catherine asked.

"Daddy down! I wan' down daddy!"

"Lola, be quiet." Greg said quietly. The little girl huffed and blew a raspberry in her dad's face. He rolled his eyes.

"Greg, trust me." Catherine pleaded, and Greg's resolve wavered.

"Okay. Come on in." He sighed, his eyes on Alyssa as Loeila scrambled down and then up into Catherine's arms. Greg led the two women into the living room where Nick was building a castle out of blocks with Kristy the returning Loeila, whilst Morgan sat next to the coffee table drawing with Reuben.

Morgan bit her lip as she saw Alyssa, but Reuben, Kristy and Nick just smiled at Catherine.

"Explain." Greg said simply, and Nick looked from Alyssa to Greg to Catherine.

"Uh... should Morgan and I..."

"No, stay, please." Greg said almost coldly, his eyes trained suspiciously on Alyssa. "Catherine seems to think you have an explanation. So explain."

Alyssa sucked in a large breath of air, knowing that she had to be conscious of the children in the room. "I was ordered to get with you. I worked for the CIA and I was ordered to meet you and to...well... you know... I asked why and I was told that it wasn't important. So I did what I had to, then you found me talking to a colleague so I tried to imply I'd been cheating. I was told to walk away so I did. When I found out I was pregnant I was already five months down the line."

"You didn't notice for five months?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"No, I didn't. I was taking drugs, medicinal drugs, for various on the job injuries, I figured they were...messing things up. Anyway, I decided that I'd keep the babies and retire, maybe tell you everything... But I had one last case, so I decided to go on maternity leave and finish it when I got back. I didn't know what to name them when they were born but I didn't worry, my partner and his wife took a week naming their baby... But when the twins were three days old, they were taken from the hospital by a drug dealer, Enrique Martinez. I searched every single day for three months, and when I finally found them I picked up some stuff from the store and drove straight to Vegas. It wasn't safe for them to be with me."

"But it was safe leaving them in a locked car?" Greg's voice was icy.

"I cracked the windows on purpose. I left the air-con on and I had a set of car keys left over from an undercover op that would vibrate if anyone came within two metres of the car. Even cracked, the windows were bullet proof. I unstrapped the car seats to make you think I was careless, to give the courts something to work with if anyone tried to take them away from you."

"How did you know I'd be such a good father? I could have been a monster."

"I did a background check, before I met you and then again once I found out I was pregnant. You were the only guy I had...you know...with, in years. You think being a CSI means no personal life." She shook her head. "I also have a fairly good people radar. I knew you'd look after them. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I quit my job, joined the FBI and I had no idea you two knew each other and when I found out... Catherine was my first true friend in years. I didn't want to lose that, so I didn't tell her. Until we were told we had to come to Vegas. I...I tried not to come. I didn't want to ruin your lives... I know that you probably don't believe me, but here's the case file. It's all the truth, I swear. I am so, so, sorry for what happened to them and I am so, so sorry for what I did to you." She finished, tears on her cheeks.

Greg bit his lip and nodded slowly. "I'm not. If you didn't, then I wouldn't have either of them. You have no idea how much I want to hate you right now. But, honestly, I don't see anything you did that I wouldn't have. Apart from the first thing."

Alyssa sighed. "At the CIA orders are orders. I didn't have a choice."

Greg nodded as an awkward silence fell over the group. Greg felt strangely numb. The day before he'd nearly lost his baby, and found out his dad could be alive. That his dad had protected him for eight years... Now this? And Catherine had spoken a lot about Alyssa... Greg could tell that she cared a lot about the younger woman, the same way she cared about Sara and Greg and Nick and Morgan...

Reuben raced over to him, snapping him out of his pondering. "Look, Daddy! Look what I maded! Is a piture!"

"Another picture?" Greg smiled, lifting Reuben onto his lap.

"Uh huh. Dis one no for Audie Mogan, dis one is for you!"

"Thanks, Reubs." Greg smiled half heartedly, kissing his son's head.

"Is me and you and Lola and Kristy and Eli and Uncie Nick and Audie Sawa and Uncie Gwiss and Audie Mogan and Finn and DB and Bawababa and Maya and Kaitlyn and Audie Cafwin and her Lou. And dere is Henwy and Mandy and Wendy. Is our famiwy daddy!" He beamed.

Loeila frowned and toddled over to have a look. "Where my Hodgie?"

"Oh!" Reuben giggled. He took a crayon off of a nearby table and added another potato like figure. "And Lola's Hodgie."

Greg pulled Reuben closer. He looked over Reuben's head at Catherine. "Should I tell them?"

"It's up to you." Catherine smiled wryly, knowing exactly what Greg was talking about.

Greg bit his lip.

"What da matter, daddy?" Reuben asked.

"Everything's cool." Greg smiled.

Reuben nodded and turned to Alyssa. "You're pwetty!"

She smiled nervously at him, as though she didn't think she was allowed. "Really? Thank you."

"Uh huh."

"I fink so too!" Loeila piped up, and Kristy nodded shyly, clinging onto Nick's leg.

"I fink you're very, very, nearwy as pwetty as Mogan and Sawa. Nearwy." Reuben said honestly. "But you'we weally pwetty."

"Someone has the same taste as his Daddy." Nick grinned.

"Wha' does dat mean, Daddy?" Kristy asked.

"Nothin'." Nick grinned.

Loeila stuck her thumb in her mouth. "Uh...you're weally pretty but um, who are you?"

"Loeila, Reuben..." Greg took a deep breath. "This is your mom. Your biological mom."

Both twins looked shocked.

"Our mom?" Reuben frowned. "Da one who leabed us?"

"Yeah." Greg nodded. "She didn't want to."

"Well den why did you leabe?" Loeila asked indignantly.

"I had to."

"To protect you from bad guys." Greg sighed.

"Awe you in love?" Reuben asked.

"No." Greg and Alyssa said softly at the same time.

"Otay." Reuben shrugged.

"But...but you leabed us..." Loeila's lip trembled. "You still leabed us."

"Lola, she didn't want to." Catherine interjected softly.

Loeila's lip quivered. "Why you here now?"

"To help me keep the bad guys away. She's my friend." Catherine explained.

"So you pwefer her to me?" Loeila cried.

Greg coughed and rolled his eyes at the same time.

"No, Loeila, no!" Catherine frowned.

"Yes you do! Nobody loves me!" the three year old yelled, flinging herself into Morgan's arms. "Sept Mogan and my Hodgie!" she added as an afterthought.

"Lola..."

"No daddy! You don' love me, dust like eberybody ewse!" She nestled into Morgan's arms. "I lib wib Mogan now!"

"I think your Daddy does love you." Morgan said softly. "I think everyone loves you because you're so beautiful."

Loeila beamed. "Das why I love you!"

Morgan laughed, rubbing the little girls back. Loeila leaned forward and whispered something in Morgan's ear.

"I think so." Morgan whispered back.

Loeila sighed and settled into Morgan's arms, studying Alyssa.

Alyssa felt even more scrutinised than she had when her cover blown while she was in a room with six members of the Russian Mafia.

"Daddy? Daddy? Daaaaaaaddy!" Kristy threw a small wooden block at her zoned out father.

"Ow! Kristina!"

"Daddy, no listen to me!" she protested.

"I'm sorry, Kristy. What's wrong?"

"Wha's goin' on? I don' understand." She asked.

"The nice lady over there, Alyssa, is Loeila and Reuben's biological mom. Do you remember what that means?"

Kristy's face screwed up in concentration. "Bio-ogical. Dat means... dat she is da weal mommy dat gave birth to dem?"

"Good girl!" Nick grinned and Kristy beamed.

Alyssa's eyes widened. "You have one smart little girl."

"Thank you." Nick smiled.

"So about the case the case...and my dad..." Greg prompted. "I told these guys and the others in the hospital."

"We don't have anything new. We've been sent for moderate protection, which basically means being close by, daily checks, emergency contact details etc." Catherine explained.

"Cafin, can you peese find da bad guy from our house as well as da one dat huwt Weuben?"

"What bad guy from your house?" Catherine cried.

Nick gravely explained the man in the closet to Catherine.

"Do you think it was related?" Alyssa asked softly.

"I don't know. All I know is that these guys come in, they hurt us and they run away again." Nick muttered angrily.

Catherine shook her head. "They're not getting away. Not this time."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Sara, can I have a cookie?"

"You've already had three."

"But I'm still hungry!"

"No, Eli." Sara came into the kitchen. "Have you seen my car keys?"

"Nope." Eli shook his head, leaning on the kitchen island. "Pleeeaaase can I have a cookie?"

"I said know. If you're hungry, have an apple. Or a banana."

"Yuck. I hate bananas." Eli shuddered, taking an apple.

"I know." Sara grinned, before frowning. "Where are my car keys?"

"Maybe...on the key hook?"

"Cute, Eli."

"I know I am." He grinned, and Sara shoved his arm playfully.

"Would you maybe help me rather than act like a smarty pants?"

"Okay..." Eli rolled his eyes and started rummaging around in the drawers. "Found them."

"Great. Let's go."

"We're going to Uncle Greg's, right?"

"Yeah, but you've gotta be-"

"Gentle with Reuben because he got hurt the other day I know, Sara, you told me ages ago."

"Alright." Sara pursed her lips. "Get in the car."

Eli raced out of the house and slipped into the front seat of the car.

"Sara?" he asked as she got into the car.

"Uh huh?"

"Why were you and Grissom arguing this morning in the airport?"

Sara sighed. "Because he didn't want to leave for London."

"To get his book published?"

"Yeah. I told him that if he didn't leave he would miss the opportunity, he didn't want to leave while we were in trouble."

"So why did you say he should?"

"Because it's his dream." Sara sighed and looked over at Eli. "The only reason that he went is because-"

"You yelled."

"No, because he promised that he would come back if anything else happened. It was a once in a lifetime shot and he was almost on the plane."

"Okay." Eli shrugged. "Kyle was being stupid at school again today."

"Oh yeah? What was he saying?"

"He was picking on Jamie again. So I told him to go and kiss his mother's bu-"

"Eli!" Sara cried.

"He was hitting Jamie! Anyway, so he said 'at least I have a mom who cares about me' and I said that I have you and he said that you were a stupid cow so I walked away with Jamie 'cause it was the end of lunch."

"Apart from Kyle, how's Jamie settling in?" Sara asked. Harry Riddle, their neighbour had recently been laid off from the fire service and Jamie had had to leave the specialist school for deaf children that he'd attended. It had helped that he and Eli were best friends and that Eli was already fairly fluent in sign language. Eli translated for Jamie most of the time, and they had a teaching assistant who also translated for him.

"He said that it's harder than his old school but that he likes most of the people in the class. Most of them are trying to learn sign language too. Kyle's the only one insisting on bullying him, and also me."

"You should tell the teacher."

"We have! Kyle's just insecure. Mrs. Durrant says it's because he doesn't have a very good home life."

"You are a very understanding child."

Eli rolled his eyes. "You are a very patronizing adult."

Sara snorted a laugh. "I'm sorry."

"Sara, stop!" Eli yelled.

Sara slammed on the breaks just in time to stop before hitting a cat. "Jesus!"

"You were gonna hit that cat!"

"I know, I know, it's okay." Sara breathed heavily for a moment. Her phone buzzed and she glanced behind her at the empty road. She pulled over, turned the car off and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

_"Miss Sidle?" _

"Yes, who is this?"

_"You work at CSI, right?" _

"Yes, I do, who is this?"

_"My name is Jose Martinez. My wife and daughter were killed three years ago and my brother tells me it wasn't even a case." _

Sara glanced at Eli. "Your brother did something highly illegal-"

_"He just wanted to help me!" _the man yelled. _"He was going to investigate himself, now he has almost nothing." _

"He shot a child, there is no excuse for that. Why are you calling me?"

_"I want you to make it a real case." _

"We don't have a body, a suspect or a crime scene, there is nothing I can do."

_"I will take you to the bodies. I want to know what happened to my family." _

"You're going to have to go to the police department."

_"No. I want you to do it. I want you to personally open the case." _

"I can't do that."

_"Cute kid. He yours?" _

Sara froze. "Where are you?"

_"You open my daughter's case, or I'll end your son's life!" _

Sara turned the key in the ignition.

_"Don't ignore me!" _

The moment her foot touched the pedal a gunshot rang through the air. Eli screamed.

"Get down!" Sara yelled, pushing down on the accelerator and tearing down the road. She snatched her radio up. "Control, control, this is CSI Sidle..."

There was a loud bang and the car started spinning.

"SARA!" Eli screamed.

Sara finished with the radio. "It's gonna be okay, Eli, it's going to be okay."

"Sara, what's going on?" he sobbed as she reached into the glove compartment. She grabbed her gun and shoved the spare ammo into her pocket.

"Unbuckle your seatbelt." She ordered. Eli quickly obeyed. "Now, keep down but come here..."

Sara helped Eli climb over the gap between the two seats. She pushed him down so he was in the foot compartment between her legs. A single bullet came through the passenger window, about a foot in front of Sara's face.

Eli screamed, digging his fingers into her leg. "Sara!"

"I know, I know." She whispered. She opened the driver's door and slipped out.

"Sara!" Eli whispered, huddled under the seat. "Sara, please don't go! Don't leave me!"

"I'm not going to leave you." Sara shook her head, placing a hand on his face.

A soft hissing noise preceded another load bang and half of the car burst into flames.

Eli screamed loudly and Sara dragged him out into her arms. He clung to her like a monkey to a tree as she backed away from the burning vehicle. A man walked up to them, his gun trained on the two of them.

"Don't move Miss Sidle. Like I said, cute kid."

Eli turned slightly to look at the man.

"I wouldn't look over here, chico! Turn around or I'll pop your mommy."

Eli instantly obeyed. "Sara, I'm scared!" he whispered.

"I know." She murmured back, holding her gun up toward Martinez.

"I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want to be sure that revenge for my baby was served."

"You killed the Rodgers family." Sara stated.

"I wouldn't be accusing me of anything right now if I were you. But yes. I did."

A siren came closer rapidly.

"Oh, you called for backup. Don't worry, Miss Sidle, I'm not going to hurt your little boy. Not now. I won't hurt anyone if you open the case. If you open the case, your little boy will go unharmed. I swear." The man blew a kiss at Sara. "Adios."

Sara jumped as a car swerved up and Jose Martinez slipped in.

As the car drove away, Sara stroked Eli's head. "It's okay, it's okay."

She relaxed visibly when Brass himself jumped out of a police car and ran up to Sara. "Are you two okay? Where's the suspect?"

"Gone that way in a black car, licence plate YH9 76B." Sara explained, hugging Eli to her.

"Okay, I'll call it in." Brass nodded. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just wanna get him under shelter." Sara said quickly.

"Agreed, get in the car, both of you." Brass nodded, holding open the door.

Once in the car, Eli started sobbing again. "Sara, Sara, Sara!"

"It's okay, baby, it's okay." Sara murmured. "I won't let him hurt you."

"But Sara, he's gonna hurt you." Eli sniffed.

"Nobody's hurting anybody." Sara shook her head.

"We're not getting to Uncle Greg's are we?"

"Not right now." Sara said sadly. She shifted Eli around on her lap so he could look out the window and his head fell back against her shoulder.

She grabbed the cell phone she'd dropped loosely into her pocket while she started the car and started a call.

"Russell, its Sara. We are in way over our heads."

**REVIEW PLEASE! **


	17. Chapter 17: The Ask and the Answer

**ZOMG! IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE UPDATED! I'm SORRY! Thanks so, so much for my lovely reviews, you guys are AWESOME! **

**I hope this chapter is good enough, please tell me! I hope I haven't made any mistakes, coz I'm trying to iron some stuff for y'all, so I hope it works. **

**This chapter title comes from an awesome book but the words are more fitting than the book itself.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**

**Chapter Seventeen # The Ask and the Answer #**

"A volcanic ash cloud?" Grissom asked incredulously.

"Yes, a volcano in Iceland erupted roughly two hours ago, and thanks to the weather by this time the ash cloud is too large to allow any planes to fly at this time. I'm sorry sir, but no flights will be able to take off or land for an indefinite period of time." The girl at the reception desk seemed severe.

Grissom shook his head and sighed angrily. "Look, I need to get back to Nevada, my wife and...my wife and my son are in trouble, they've been shot at."

"I'm sorry but unless you travel through Europe to about Spain then you're not going to be getting back soon."

Grissom gritted his teeth. "How long will it take?"

"It could be days, or weeks or months. I really don't know. I've been told the prediction is two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"Yes."

Grissom ran a hand over his chin. "Okay...okay, thank you..."

Deciding to be logical, he called a taxi and headed to his hotel before pulling out his phone to call Sara.

_"Gil?" _

"Hi Sara. Have you heard the news?"

_"Volcanic ash cloud? Yeah, I heard. I think you should get the book deal done." _

Grissom sighed. "Sara-"

_"No, Gil. There's nothing you can do. Nothing, okay? I've thought about it...something good may as well come out of this. And also, I'm glad that you're not here. If you're not here then there's less chance of you getting hurt." _

Grissom sighed again. "You know, traditionally, it's the husband's duty to protect his family."

_"Well, you know what I think about tradition. Please, Gil, please. Do it for me, please..." _

"Sara, you know you sometimes when you get involved I just don't know what to do. If I didn't know better I would say that you were responsible for the volcano."

_"Very funny. Look, Gil, I love you, but I gotta go, we're running Catherine and Alyssa through our case notes. I'll speak to you soon." _

"I love you. And Eli."

_"We love you too." _

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"So." DB stared at the files on the table in the layout room.

Eli, Kristy and the twins were in the break room with Judy, the receptionist and DB's wife Barbara, and the team, plus Hodges, Xiomara, Archie, Mandy, Catherine and Alyssa were all standing around the table staring at the case files.

It had taken a long while for Eli to calm down enough to allow Sara to leave, but eventually she persuaded him to let her work the case with the promise of being back in a few hours and only ever being just around the corner.

"Why was the CIA looking at Greg?" DB asked.

"I don't know, I honestly don't. A lot of that part of the file was blacked out." Alyssa admitted with slight irritation. "I'm not sure it was necessarily to do with Greg, though. I think it may be to do with his father. Mark Sanderson."

"He's an intelligence operative in the army." Greg explained. "He used his grandfather's name in the army, he would never tell me why."

Alyssa sighed. "It's because the risk of someone trying to find any family of his was high. He knew a lot of government secrets. The investigation at the CIA, from what I could gather, was looking into a leak in _his_ department, before and after he was taken as a prisoner of war along with several other men. They were believed to have been taken by an American idealist terrorist group calling themselves God's Angels."

Morgan scoffed. "Little pretentious."

Alyssa nodded. "A couple of CIA operatives that I know quite well had been working on taking them down for years for years, as in almost fifty. They got in so deep that they had to give up their lives as they knew them. They had a five year old son when they were forced to go off the grid. They're good friends of mine, and they said it was the hardest thing they had ever done. The agency thinks that they took Mark Sanders because he knew many military secrets, but as far as we're aware he didn't leak any of them. He's been presumed dead for years, until the FBI were sent the video. We don't know when the video was filmed, our AV tech guessed within this year but she couldn't narrow it down further." Alyssa explained.

Greg breathed in deeply.

"And I think this might be linked to the Martinez case. I didn't realise before because I didn't know the names, but one of the men taken prisoner was called Pedro Martinez. He had three brothers, Jose - a gang leader, Enrique, a drug dealer who was killed two days before I brought the twins to Greg, and Diego, a minor gang member. Pedro was the only one who could handle growing up with a schizophrenic mom and an alcoholic dad." Alyssa continued.

Sara shifted slightly. "Jose Martinez was the original suspect for the Rodgers family murders. He's also the guy with the supposedly dead wife and daughter, the one who shot at Eli and I."

"Exactly."

"So how do we find them? And what do they want?" Nick asked.

"I'm not sure." Alyssa admitted. "If Jose's daughter and wife were killed, even three years ago, then he would be very...angry. He's a very dangerous individual."

"Yeah, we've noticed..." DB sighed.

Alyssa nodded. "But I have an idea why God's Angels might be after Greg. What better way to make his father talk?"

"Fun." Greg muttered, and Morgan glanced at him in worry.

Mandy put a file down on the table. "I found Mario Lorenzo, the brother in law's fingerprint on one of the bullet casings from Nick's house."

"And I found something weird in the same bullet, it was a tiny bit of paper with writing on it. It said 'May the son pay for the father's sins.'"

"What does that mean?" Finn frowned at Nick.

"I have no idea." Nick frowned.

"Do you think it's possible that Jose Martinez just wants to find out what happened to his family?" DB asked.

"If he already slaughtered a family over this then I doubt it." Alyssa shook her head.

"Ms Willows, there are some men to see you in reception." Judy popped her head around the door.

"I'll be back." Catherine smiled.

She walked the familiar route to the reception and paused when she saw her boss standing next to another man. "Sir?"

Butler smiled. "The CIA pulled through. Four days ago they stormed a Heaven's Angels base in Afghanistan. This is Mark Sanders."

Catherine's mouth popped open. "Oh my god...hi, I'm Catherine Willows."

"I know." The other man said quietly.

"He's been interrogated thoroughly and treated at the hospital. I met him in Afghanistan and flew him back to Vegas, he just wants to see his son." Her boss said aside to Catherine.

"Wow..." Catherine swallowed. "Do you want me to get him?"

Mark turned his face toward her and nodded slightly. "Please..."

"There's an empty lab over here if you wanted somewhere more private." Catherine led him there. "I'll go get Greg." She nodded, walking straight off. "Greg?"

The young man looked up. "Yeah?"

"Can you come with me?"

"Sure..." He followed her out and she put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"They...they found your dad. He's here, Greg, he's alive, he wants to see you."

Greg's mouth dropped open. "Really?"

"I wouldn't joke about this, Greg."

"Where is he?" Greg swallowed.

"In the old AV lab. Come on..."

Catherine lingered by the door as Greg slipped into the AV lab.

"Dad?"

"Greg..." The almost emaciated man swallowed. "Greg, I'm sorry I left, I was going to quit but-"

Mark Sanders cut off as his son hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad you're back." Greg whispered.

Mark swallowed and hugged Greg back. "Me too."

"Are you okay, what happened?"

"I'm fine." Mark nodded, pulling gently away from his son to study his face. "They didn't... No one came or-"

"No, not yet. But uh, I'm in a bit of trouble still, I'll explain later. I've got a lot to tell you."

"Like what?" Mark smiled slightly, not able to wait to catch up on what he'd missed in his son's life.

"Well, um..." As if on cue, a loud squeal emitted from the corridor followed by Judy's startled cry.

"Loeila!"

Greg couldn't help but laugh as his daughter hurtled around the corner. "Daaaaaddddyyyyy!"

She smashed into Greg's legs, staring up at her dad with imploring eyes. "Help me daddy!"

"What's wrong?" Greg asked seriously, watching his dad's eyes widen out of the corner of his own eye as the older man saw the little girl.

"Weuben and Eli awe puttin' piders in my haiw!" she cried. "Dey scawing me!"

"Oh, really?"

Two little heads peered around the door. "I would never do such a thing, Uncle Greg!" Eli gasped melodramatically.

"Neber!" Reuben agreed, holding out his empty palms. "We innocent!"

Loeila stuck out her tongue. "Daddy, dey lying!"

Greg laughed, hoisting Loeila onto his hip. "I'll have to think about that."

"Eli!" Catherine called from the doorway. "Grissom's on the phone, you wanna talk to him?"

"Oh, yeah!" Eli cried, running out of the room.

"Who dat, daddy?" Reuben asked, lingering by the door, as if seeing Mark Sanders for the first time.

"Come here, Reubs..." Greg beckoned and Reuben ran to his father's side, peering up at the strange man through Greg's legs. "Loeila, Reuben, this is my dad. Your granddad."

Mark's mouth opened softly at the affirmation. "You have...they are...Greg...wow...who, what..."

"Their mom was...is... Well, we're not together, it's complicated, I'll explain later. This is-"

"No, daddy I say my name! Dis is a special day, you have you'we daddy home!" Loeila hit Greg on the head. She wiggled around for a moment and dramatically cleared her throat. "Ah he hem. My name is Loeila Mawee Hojem Sandews."

"Hello, Loeila." Mark smiled softly.

"We think she'll be on Broadway one day." Greg joked.

Reuben darted through his father's legs to tap his grandfather's knee, before shyly hiding behind his father's legs again.

"I'm Reuben Warrick Mark Hojem Sanders. I'm older by ten minutes and two seconds! What's your name?"

"I'm Mark." The man said softly.

Reuben looked up at his dad and back to his granddad. "I named after you?"

"Yeah, Reubs." Greg interrupted.

"But daddy, I named after Warrick because Eli's daddy's in heaven. Why am I named after granddad if he's not in heaven?"

Greg smiled sadly at his son, but Loeila interrupted. "Coz they didn't know whewe he was. Nana told me dat dey fought he was pobably in heaben. Den Papa Olaf said _ikke la barna være trist! fortelle dem lykkelige historier_."

"Which means don't let the children be sad! Tell dem happy stories." Reuben translated with a smug little smile.

"They speak Norwegian?" Mark cried.

"Yep." Replied Greg proudly. "Well, a little."

"Daddy, can we go home now? Granddad can come too, but I dust wanna go home." Loeila pleaded. "I tiwed."

"We can't go home just yet, Lola." Greg sighed.

She pouted. "But I want to."

"Well, how about you guys go back into the break room while I finish up the boring adult stuff?"

"No, you come wib us!" Reuben insisted.

"I can't just now. Barbara and Judy will stay with you?"

"My Hodgie!" Loeila insisted.

"Yeah! And Lola's Hodgie!" Reuben nodded.

"Fine, guys, come on then." He smiled, calling Hodges out of the room and introducing his dad to everyone.

"How'd you get out? If you don't mind me asking?" Morgan asked, blushing slightly.

Mark took a deep breath.

_He raised his heavy head as gunshots rang through his ears. They were part of his everyday life now, had been for around eight years. _

_For a while he'd kept track of every single day, but not anymore. _

_He'd lost track of the days a long time ago. _

_The first six months he had spent in slight fear and stubborn denial. After that he'd just gone numb and sunk into a state much like depression. He ate what they brought him, he slept when he could, but there was a hollowness accompanying his every action. _

_Nothing he did had meaning any more. _

_Every single day they would ask him the same questions, questions about the government, about the secrets he'd been told. _

_A few days ago they'd asked about his son. That was when the fear truly set in. The mind numbing terror that someone might hurt his son. He couldn't care about what they did to him. _

_The door opened and he didn't even react. _

_"Mr. Sanders?" He looked up slowly. He hadn't been called that since home... _

_A man who looked about thirty in the familiar uniform of the US army took out a long knife and quickly cut the ropes binding his arms and legs to the chair, speaking as he did it. "My name is Officer Stanley, I'm here to get you home, just hold on." _

_"Forgive me if I don't believe you." Mark answered tiredly, emotionlessly. _

_The man smiled sympathetically and helped Mark to his feet. The gunfire increased and then died down, coinciding with the barked orders of the army. Mark allowed himself to be led to an army van. _

_A man and a woman who looked to be in their sixties pulled him in. "Mark Sanders?" _

_"In the army its Sanderson." He answered slowly, trying not to give anything away, though he knew it was pointless if they already knew. _

_"I'm Elizabeth Brown." The woman said. "This is my husband and partner George, we're with the CIA." _

_She showed him an ID and badge. He stared at the picture of the African-American woman and the badge. It looked authentic. _

_He ran a thumb over the metal. "Feels real." _

_"It is." George said simply, a sympathetic smile on his face. _

_Suddenly the van jolted to a start. _

_Mark jumped, grabbing the edge of his seat. _

_"It's alright, we're getting you to hospital." _

_Mark nodded stiffly, his guard still up, though exhaustion flooded his veins. It was amazing how tiring doing nothing was. _

_He started to black out in the van, and when he woke up he was in hospital. _

_An IV line was sticking out of his hand and he was wearing a hospital gown. His skin was clean, soft. _

_It felt strange with the absence of years of dirt, mud and sand on his skin._

_ He blinked a few times, his vision blurring in and out of focus. _

_Elizabeth was sitting in the chair by the side of the bed. "You're awake. I told you we were taking you to hospital."_

_ He nodded mutely. He still didn't feel safe. _

_"We'll explain everything soon. As soon as you're strong enough."_

"They told me how we'd been betrayed – Jeremiah Sampson, Callum McPherson and Pedro Martinez all went dirty. I already knew about Martinez..."

_"Get down, get down!" Mark roared as bullets flew through the air, shoving OJ, James and Callum to the floor. "Pedro, Jeremiah, get down!" _

_Four men walked through the door, guns at the ready. _

_Pedro and Jeremiah stood aside. _

_"You, stand up! Stand _up!" _The first man roared in a strong Southern accent. _

_"Do as he says." Pedro smiled. "It will end better for you, Marko." _

_Mark's heart fell. "Sergeant Martinez-"_

_"Take William's first, he's the weakest." Pedro instructed. Within seconds, Mark loaded his gun and shot Pedro three times. As the man fell to the floor, his new allies fired back, knocking OJ to the floor..._

"McPherson and Sampson tried to double cross God's Angels and they're both dead. I don't think Martinez did, and as far as I know, he's still alive. OJ Williams was killed the day we got taken in, they found his body...James Durrant survived, he went to Maryland to see his parents and sister. The CIA and the FBI both interrogated me for a while, then I called my wife, and then the FBI brought me here."

"Wow..." Finn breathed.

"Do, uh...do you mind telling me what's going on?" Mark asked. "If it's classified, I understand, but-"

"No, no, it's fine, we were just about try and sum everything up anyway." DB smiled, nodding at Finn.

She clapped her hands together. "So, to summarise, we have the Martinez family Pedro, Jose, Enrique and Diego. Pedro was in the army and taken hostage along with Greg's father and three other men, Callum McPherson, OJ Williams and James Durrant, two of whom were dirty and now dead, two of whom survived and one who did not. Pedro's brother Enrique, now deceased, kidnapped the twins when they were newborns. Diego was released from Texas State Prison last year after a seven year sentence for drug possession. Jose and his brother in law Mario Lorenzo have been suspected of attacking us on several occasions – Sara and Eli this morning, Nick's house a few days ago, Greg's the day before that, and all of us at Christmas. We're not sure what they want, but we think it has to do with the death of Jose's wife and daughter."

Alyssa frowned. "What if...what if there was more than one motive?"

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

"Well, look at these records." Alyssa spread the files out. "And the details, gimee a second..." she flicked through Diego Martinez's file for a moment before nodding. "So, imagine this. Three brothers get together; have a little talk, maybe a few drinks. They talk about their problem. Diego, youngest brother, just got out of what he sees as a harsh jail sentence given to him by the judge, a certain William Stokes. Pedro's angry about being shot in Afghanistan; maybe he's lost the use of an arm, something like that. And Jose's family have been killed but the only crime the police care about solving are the murders _he _committed to avenge them. To make matters worse, their brother was murdered. And their problems all trace back, in one way or another-"

"-to the Las Vegas Crime lab." Catherine finished.

"That...adds a little perspective." Mandy nodded.

"But why go after Sara and Eli?" Wendy asked. "Unless maybe they knew them?"

"Not that I know of." Sara shrugged regretfully.

"You know, I think I'm gonna call Rosa and get her to stay in Texas a little longer, if we are being targeted, I want the ring of people as small as humanely possible." Nick said gravely.

"I agree. Lindsey deserves a holiday, putting up with Tricks and Trouble." Greg nodded.

"So what we need to do is we need to find these guys." Finn said.

"But we also need to get those kids home, I mean, they're exhausted, they're scared, they need some normality now more than ever." DB insisted. "And uh, Alyssa, Catherine, why don't you home with Greg, I'm guessing Mark's going with you too. That way the two of you can do your jobs, keep an eye on Greg, and all three of you have been travelling so you could do with some rest too. The rest of us will stay here, we'll call you if we find anything. Actually, Nick, you should go back with Sara, safety in numbers, okay?"

"That's fine with me." Sara nodded.

"Sure. I got Kristy's go bag in the car anyway." Nick agreed.

"Then it's sorted." DB nodded, and they all made their way back into the break room, right in the middle of a budding argument.

"...we have a granddad!"

"Well I have Hank!" Eli defended.

"I has Sammie!" Kristy added.

"Okay, guys, let's not get into _another_ my horse is bigger than your horse!" Greg announced, clamping a hand playfully over Eli's ready-to-retort mouth.

Kristy gasped. "Unca Greg has a horsie! Daddy, why can' I hab a horsie!"

"Uncle Greg doesn't mean he really has a horse." Sara explained gently. "Its just a funny thing that people say."

"Oh. I still wanna horsie daddy!"

"Well, maybe when you're a little bit bigger you can have a horse." Nick said mildly.

"Bu' Nana said dat you had a howse when you where eben more smaller dan me!"

Nick sighed. "Really?"

"Uh huh. An' Cisco said it was the tooth. And dat he finks I should hab a horsie!"

"Uh, daddy's gonna have to talk to Nana and Cisco then, aren't I?" Nick raised his eyebrows.

"Daddy, can I peese go home now!" Loeila pleaded, her face almost pained. "I hungy and I tiewd!"

"Yeah, we can go home. Granddad, Catherine and Alyssa are coming too."

"I'll sleep on the couch." Catherine winked at Reuben. "I think your Granddad needs the spare room."

"You can seep in my bed." Reuben insisted, blinking his big eyes.

"Or, you can sleep in my other spare room! I have two now." Greg said proudly. "And the second has two beds."

"So Lyssa can stay too and not on da floor." Reuben added.

Alyssa had told the twins that they didn't have to call her mom, to which Reuben sweetly replied that they would call her Alyssa (or as he pronounced it Lyssa) until they knew what they wanted.

"We did it ouwselfs. And we'we decowating my woom now. Wit Lindsey. Daddy, whewe is Lindsey?" Loeila asked curiously.

"She's on holiday."

"But she didn' say goodbye!" Loeila's lip quivered.

"Well we'll just have to call her when we get home, won't we, Tricks?"

Loeila nodded firmly, holding her hands up to her dad, who swung her up onto his hip once more.

A few hours later Greg sat down on the sofa with his father. Catherine and Alyssa were both asleep, as were the twins.

"So what have I missed?"

Greg half smiled. "Well. Uh...quite a lot."

"Yeah. What about your work?"

"Uh. Well. Sara got kidnapped and left Vegas and married my boss Grissom. My friend Warrick died. Grissom left Vegas and Catherine became the boss, then Riley came and went, and Ray Langston came, and Sara came back, then everything got screwed up, Nick and Catherine got demoted, DB and Morgan arrived, then Catherine left and Finn arrived."

"Fun times. Has anyone else..."

Greg took a deep breath, knowing exactly what his father meant. "Nana Olaf died last year. Cancer."

_"Daddy? What wong?" Reuben asked, watching Greg stare at the empty box of animal figurines that Nana Olaf had sent over. _

_"Daddy? If you wan' da toy back you can hab it." _

_Greg half smiled and a tear slipped out of his eye. "I don't want the toys, Reuben." _

_"Daddy, what bad?" Lola asked. _

_Greg took a deep breath and lifted her up onto his lap, pulling Reuben onto his other knee. "Nana Olaf can't come around anymore." _

_"Why?" Lola frowned. _

_"She got sick and now she's in heaven." _

_"Why?" Reuben asked, his voice wavering. _

_"I don't know." Greg admitted, his voice cracking slightly. "I don't know." _

_"Don' cry, daddy. Is otay, is otay." Loeila murmured, leaning up to stroke Greg's hair. Overcome by the role reversal, Greg broke down.  
_  
"Yeah. It was quick."

"Oh god..." Mark rubbed his jaw.

"Have you called mom?"

"Yeah, yeah, she told me to go straight to Vegas, that she'd meet me there. Here. God, this feels like a dream."

"It's not." Greg said quietly. "I swear."

"Thanks, Greg." He smiled, putting an arm around his son. After not being anywhere near his son for eight years, Mark felt like he needed the human contact, and Greg leaned against his father with a small sigh. "You're a good dad, Greg."

"You're not a bad one yourself." Greg's mouth twitched into a smile.

"I shouldn't have left."

"You didn't have a choice." Greg said quietly.

"I love you, Greg."

"I love you too, dad." Greg murmured softly.

Suddenly there was a loud thud from the Reuben's bedroom where both twins were sleeping whilst Loeila's room was being decorated.

Greg immediately shot off the couch but by the time he had Reuben appeared at the door in his little monkey onesie, complete with tail and a hood with ears.

"Daddy?" The little boy rubbed his eyes and sniffed sadly. "Daddy, I had a nightmare."

Greg sighed softly in relief and picked Reuben up, peering into Reuben's room. Lola was fast asleep, dwarfed in the large single bed, curled up in the princess blankets.

Greg carried Reuben back into the living room, sitting back down with his dad. "What happened, Reubs?"

"De man. He came back, daddy. He hurted you and Lola and den he hurted me. He said he was gonna hurt everyone!"

The three year old lost all sense of composure by the last word, his body shaking with gasps and sobs.

"Reubs, Reubs, it's okay...I'm here, no one's gonna hurt you..."

"You said that in my dream!" Reuben wailed. "Den he hurt you!"

"Shh, sh... No one's gonna hurt me, Reuben. No one, okay? We're gonna be fine."

Greg pulled Reuben towards him and let the tiny boy cry into his shirt, soaking the thin fabric with tears.

"Sh, shh." He soothed, rubbing Reuben's back gently. "It's okay."

Mark stood up. "I might take a shower if that's alright with you." Greg snorted.

"Why wouldn't it be? There're some clothes and pyjamas on your bed you can use, we'll go shopping tomorrow, and I'm sure mom will bring some stuff."

"Thank you, Greg. Night Reuben, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Mark kissed Greg and Reuben on the head and

Reuben looked up and sniffed. "Nigh' nigh' Granddad."

"Yeah, nigh' nigh' Granddad." Greg grinned.

Mark smiled and walked away.

Reuben sniffed again. "Nana coming?"

"Yeah, she's coming."

"Ta see granddad?"

"And you." Greg smiled, poking Reuben's nose.

Reuben smiled and squirmed his dad's arms, squealing quietly as his dad tickled him.

Mark smiled at them for a moment before heading to the shower. A shower. God, it seemed like he couldn't get enough of them, after years of being denied any sort of cleanliness.

"Shh, Reuben!" Greg grinned, "You'll wake the girls up."

Reuben giggled quietly. "Bu' you tickle me!"

"Yeah, I did!"

A loud squeal of brakes followed by a crash shattered the quiet night air. Reuben screamed for a second and started crying.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Greg said, comforting his son, standing up to peer out of the window to the street below. A man got out of a dark car that was pretzled around a lamppost and sighed, pulling out his phone.

"It's okay, Reubs, the man just crashed his car. It's okay." Greg soothed, marvelling at how no one had woken up. He gently put Reuben down on the sofa. "I'm gonna go real quick and see if I can help, oka-"

"Daddy no go!" Reuben cried.

"Reuben, the man could need help."

"Daddy peese no go!" Reuben wailed, throwing himself off of the sofa into his father's arms. Startled by the genuine fear in his son's face Greg stopped.

"Okay, sh, sh, I won't go."

"Daddy no leave!"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Sit down den!"

"Okay, okay. Just a minute." Greg leaned out of the window. "You okay?" He called down to the man.

The man looked up, seeing the child in Greg's arms with a sheepish look in his face. "Yeah. I'm sorry I woke you and your kid. I nearly hit a cat. I'm fine."

Greg grinned. "Alright then." He closed the window and moved back to the sofa. "There, see."

"Daddy no leave!" Reuben murmured again, entwining his fingers in Greg's t-shirt. "You can' leave. I don' wan' you to."

"I won't leave you, I won't leave you."

The hairs on the back of Greg's neck stood up as if someone was watching him. He turned, and down the corridor he could see Catherine and Alyssa's door open a crack.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

A guilty looking Alyssa opened the door. "I'm so sorry, I just...I heard Reuben and I got worried and then..."

Greg suddenly felt a rush of sympathy for the woman before him. "That's okay. You don't have to apologise. And you don't have to see their life through second or third hand stories, or through tiny cracks."

"I don't deserve anything more." Alyssa smiled wryly. "I don't want to wreck-"

"Hey. Growing up without a parent sucks. And Catherine once said to a murderer that she would rather her child know a bad father than no father, and I think the same applies to moms. And I don't think you're a bad person."

"Lyssa?" Reuben asked softly.

"You shouldn't be scared to talk to your kid." Greg said firmly when Alyssa hesitated.

Reuben frowned. "Why you scared?"

"It's not important."

"Yeah it is. Daddy says if we don' talk bout scary fings dey scare us more."

"I never had a family, and I don't want to mess yours up." She said simply.

"Oh." Reuben frowned and nestled into his father's arms. "Well...I still fink you're pretty..." he finished with a soft sigh, and Greg and Alyssa shared a small smile as their son slipped into sleep.

**Any good? Please lemme know, even though I took so long. More reviews should prevent a delay that long again, but life just got in the way :-(**


	18. Chapter 18: Together

**Hi! Sorry for the wait, I've recently realised I was way behind on work, so I didn't let myself do this until I caught up :-s Anyway, this is a bit of a filler, sorry :-( I feel like an awful writer. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review (even if I'm a shitty writer)**

**Chapter Eighteen # Together #**

Nick carried a dozing Kristy into Sara's house.

"Just let me make up the spare bed." Sara slipped past him and Eli went straight for the kitchen.

"I can do that." Nick insisted.

"No, it's fine, Nick." Sara said. "Sit down."

Nick nodded his thanks and sat on the sofa.

"Da...ddy?" Kristy frowned, swimming to consciousness.

"I'm here, baby girl."

"Where...where we?"

"We're at Sara's house."

"Oh..." Kristy struggled to sit up in her dad's arms and pushed his nose softly, running her little fingers over his face. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why you no hab a gilfend?"

"Why don't I have a girlfriend? What makes you ask that?"

"Well, people say dat dey are sad wibout love. An' I don' wan' you to be sad."

Nick smiled at the little girl's thoughtfulness. "I'm not sad, baby girl! I have lots of people I love. Starting with you."

"Yeah, bu' you nee a gilfend!"

"Why?"

"Coz you do." Kristy said firmly.

"Okay, I'll have a look sometime." Nick rolled his eyes.

"Good." Kristy nodded. "Daddy, why is the sky blue?"

Nick paused for a minute. "Because... That's the colour god wanted the ceiling."

"Oh...Sara said it was coz da blue ligh' from da sun dat gets scattered froo da gases in da sky dat makes it look blue."

Nick laughed and shook his head. "It's that too."

"Daddy? Why awe my eyes blue an' green?"

Knowing better than to make something up again, Nick smiled. "Because it's in your DNA. That means it's who you are, and its special, just for you."

"Oh. Why don' I look like you? Coz Eli looks lie his daddy, an' Uban and Lola look lie Uncie Greg. Madi an' de ofers look lie Aunie MJ bu' I don' weally look lie you."

Nick swallowed. "Because you look like your mommy."

"But Uban and Lola look lie dere mommy and Uncie Greg."

"Well, you just look like your mommy."

Kristy frowned. "Bu' I don' wanna look lie mommy, I wanna look lie you. I don' know mommy, but I love _you._"

Nick smiled, and kissed her on the top of head. "I love you, too."

"I love you more." Kristy sighed.

Nick laughed. "No, you don't."

"Uncle Nick, look at this!" Eli grinned, carrying a tarantula. "This is Stevie."

"Oooh!" Kristy squealed. "Pider! Daddy me hold! Me hold!"

Eli gently lowered the spider into Kristy's outstretched hand.

"Don't squeeze your hand, you might hurt him." Eli instructed.

"Otay!" Kristy nodded, giggling slightly. "It tickles!"

"Uh huh." Eli grinned.

Sara came back into the room and grimaced. "Eli, put Stevie away please!"

"Sa_ra_-"

"Now." Sara insisted.

"Fine." Eli rolled his eyes, taking the spider off of his little cousin to put it back in Grissom's Spider Room.

"Sara, do you want me to take the couch?" Nick offered.

"Nah, Kristy can sleep in my bed with me." Eli offered. "Then Nick can sleep in the spare bed. I gotta really big bed."

Kristy yawned. "Yeah, I seep wib Eli."

Eli picked her up, struggling slightly, but as he was rather tall and she rather small for her age it wasn't too hard.

"Okay." Sara relented. "But no talking, you have to actually sleep."

"Otay Aunie Sara." Kristy yawned again.

When Nick woke up the next morning he remembered where he was instantly. He climbed out of bed and shook his head slightly, rubbing his hands over his face. He combed his fingers through his hair and stuck a piece of gum in his mouth to try and wake up more, getting dressed before walking into the living room.

Kristy and Eli were sitting on the floor in their pyjamas. Eli was quietly re-explaining the rules of snap to Kristy, who seemed to be gradually getting it.

"Hey guys." Nick grinned quietly.

"Hey daddy. 'Nap!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Eli praised, causing Kristy to laugh.

"Daddy, I got it dis time!"

"No way! Well done, baby girl!"

She grinned at her dad and Sara looked up from behind the kitchen island. "Ah, Nick, you're up."

"That I am."

"I am making egg, tomato, bacon and sausage, you want some?"

"That'd be great." Nick frowned. "I thought you were a vegeta-"

"I am." Sara interrupted with a smile. "If you wanna use the shower in the guest bathroom, feel free, there're towels and stuff in there."

"Thanks, Sara." Nick smiled, before pausing. "You know, I can't remember the last time I actually saw you with a ponytail."

"Shut up, Nicky." Sara teased. "Now go, before I set the children on you."

Nick obeyed and came out fifteen minutes later feeling a lot better.

"Okay, that smells good." Nick admitted.

"And it is ready. Eli, Kristy, breakfast!" Sara called, and the two kids hurtled up to the table.

After breakfast Eli and Kristy went back to play snap and the doorbell rang. Sara went to answer the door as Nick started to wash up.

Sara opened the door. "Hi Laura."

"Hey Sara." Her next door neighbour said breathlessly. "I'm really sorry but uh, Casey and Poppy were arguing and they've fallen down the stairs and I think her Casey's arm's broken and I need to get them to hospital, is there any way you could -"

"Watch Jamie? No problem, Laura." Sara smiled sympathetically. "I hope she's okay."

"Thank you." Laura said, gently pushing her son into the house and running her hand through her hair.

"Do you want me to call an ambulance, or..."

"No, thank you, I can drive her, but she and Poppy are joined at the hip and I just don't want Jamie to be involved in all of the hospital drama. Harry's at another job interview. I'll pick him up as soon as I can."

"It's not a problem, but uh, I may have to run into work later, if I do, is it okay if I take him with me?"

"Sure, sure." Laura shook her head. "I gotta go. Thank you so, so much."

"It's no problem. Call me when you can." She turned to Jamie as the door closed and started to sign. 'Eli is in the other room with his cousin, Kristy'.

Jamie nodded with a cute smile, his sandy blonde hair framing his face like a halo. 'Can I join them?'

Sara nodded happily, quickly explaining her position to Nick. "Aw, man. Poor kid."

"Hi Jamie!" Eli said in faint surprise, speaking aloud as he signed for Kristy's benefit. "What are you doing here?"

Kristy watched in awe as the two boys' hands fluttered around as Jamie explained everything to Eli, and Eli introduced them.

"Daddy, Damie talks wib his hands!" Kristy cried in awe. "Coz he can't hear!"

"I know." Nick nodded.

"Sara, can we go to the park please?" Eli asked. "Me, Jamie an' Kristy?"

"Nah uh, you're not going anywhere on your own without Jamie's older sisters, you know that."

"Sa_ra-_"

"No, Eli, it's too dangerous." Sara insisted.

"You want me to take 'em?" Nick asked, drying his hands on the dishcloth.

Sara pursed her lips.

"Aunie Sara come too, peese!" Kristy begged, blinking her eyes.

"Okay, let's go." Sara grinned, reaching for her coat and whistling to the dog.

Five minutes later Sara and Nick walked through the park, Hank lolling by their side and Eli and Jamie racing ahead, Kristy moving her little legs as fast as they could to keep up.

Suddenly she tripped and fell and started spluttering as if she was about to cry. Instantly Eli turned and backtracked, crouching down next to her.

"Uh oh! Kristy, are you okay?"

"I...gotta...owie!" she said, starting to cry as she turned over to look at her bloody knee. Even as Nick started to jog over Eli put a hand on Kristy's shoulder, giving her a big hug.

"Damn...it's okay, Kristy, you're gonna be okay, it looks worse than it is."

"How you know?" Kristy sobbed.

"'cause I get cuts a lot playing with Jamie." Eli insisted.

Jamie sat down next to Kristy and moved his hands quickly, looking at Eli who was quick to translate.

"He says that he's got something to make you feel better."

Jamie passed Kristy a little packet.

"What this?"

Jamie motioned to open it, and she did, revealing a chocolate band-aid.

"For me?" Kristy asked, pointing at herself in slight confusion.

Jamie nodded, pointing at her and then miming eating.

"Fank you." She beamed, eating the chocolate, and Nick smiled, finally reaching them, and signing one of the few phrases he knew, 'thank you', to Jamie, who smiled and nodded.

"You okay, Kris?"

"Uh huh, daddy. We go pay now!" she grinned, scrambling to her feet.

The three children scampered up to the nearby playground and immediately began playing. Nick and Sara sat down on the bench.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"What's under your jacket?"

Nick shifted slightly, lowering his voice. "My service pistol, my wallet, my badge."

Sara nodded slowly. "Mine're in my bag. Is this a bad idea? Coming out in the open..."

"Maybe. I don't know."

"I'm scared, Nick. As in really scared."

"Yeah...yeah me too." Nick nodded.

Another woman and her son walked up, and Eli instantly stiffened.

"What's up with that?" Nick asked Sara, edging closer to the edge of the bench.

"School bully." Sara replied. "Kyle Hampton, his mom. Hi, Susannah."

"Hi Sara." The woman flung her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder with over the top friendliness. "Lovely day... who's your friend?"

"I'm Nick Stokes." Nick smiled politely.

"Nick Stokes... I'm Susannah Hampton." She smiled flirtatiously.

Sara rolled her eyes.

"Look at that, the deaf dummy and the idiot orphan got another little friend." Kyle jeered.

Eli groaned. Kyle was the worst bully he could possibly imagine. "Go _away, _Kyle."

"Eli, who dat?" Kristy asked innocently, taking a drink from her little plastic juice cup and frowning when she found it almost empty.

"Just a stupid boy from school." Eli muttered, pushing Kristy round on the roundabout.

"Who's the little ugly girl?"

"He no nice." Kristy remarked, recoiling slightly.

Kyle sighed. "What's your name?"

"Kristina." Kristy replied curtly. "Eli, we go pay on swings now, I no wanna talk da him."

"Sure." Eli nodded, signing quickly to Jamie who was fast to nod.

"Wimp!" Kyle taunted.

Eli took a large shuddering breath and let it out, trying to let out his anger with it. "C'mon, Kriss, Jamie."

Kyle sat on the roundabout and started flicking small stones at the other three children.

"Ow!" Kristy complained.

"Stop it!" Eli frowned, looking at Sara who was nodding at something as Susannah giggled, putting a hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Or what?"

"I'll tell my daddy!" Kristy insisted.

"Running to daddy?" Kyle laughed.

"She's allowed to, she's only three." Eli defended Kristy.

Checking that the adults were otherwise engaged, Kyle chucked a pair of larger rocks, one at Jamie and one at Eli.

Both boys cried out in pain.

"Dats it!" Kristy cried angrily, drawing the adult's attention, jumping off the swing. She hurtled her cup three meters across the park with uncanny aim, hitting Kyle right on the head.

"Hey!" He roared, charging towards her and shoving her to the floor, kicking her as hard as he could.

Kristy screamed as loud as she could in fear and pain.

_"DADDY, DADDY HELP ME!"_

Even as the three adults started to run over, Eli charged Kyle, knocking him away from Kristy. "Leave – her – _ALONE!" _

Jamie joined Eli in knocking the other boy away, and Nick arrived in time to pull them all away.

"Okay, guys, break it up, break it up." Nick said angrily. "What's goin' on?"

"Daddy, it hurts!" Kristy shrieked, tears coursing down her face.

"Okay, sweetie, it's okay." Nick soothed, stroking her hair and picking her up gently.

"Are you kidding me? Don't pick her up, smack her!" Kyle's mom yelled. "She just assaulted my kid!"

Nick's eyes bulged and Kristy's crying increased. "Excuse me?"

"Your child is obviously disobedient and violent, you need to control her!" Susannah didn't seem like the same lady she'd been before. Nick couldn't believe the sudden change...

"Your son taunted and _threw rocks _at-"

"Oh yeah, blame it on the boy-"

"He's twice her size; he could have really hurt her." Nick argued, getting severely pissed off.

"So?"

"So? So she's three years old. And he's been bullying Jamie and Eli physically and verbally for months." Nick cried.

"According to who?"

"Their teachers." Sara responded, putting a hand on both Eli and Jamie's shoulders and drawing them towards her.

"Look, I'm gonna sue-"

"For what?"

"Assault."

"Good luck with that. You have no legal claim." Sara nodded.

"Well then I'll call the damn police!"

"We are the police." Nick responded, showing her the badge. "Come on guys, we're going."

Kristy sobbed into her dad's shoulder, grasping his hair. "Daddy, hurts."

"Where does it hurt, baby girl?" Nick asked.

"My legs an' my bottom an' my elbows an' my arms an' my tummy." She cried.

"Okay, we'll patch you up as soon as we get back to Sara's." Nick comforted.

Back at the house, Eli started to vent.

"I - hate - HIM!" He yelled, kicking the sofa.

"Eli!" Sara warned. "You have a punching bag for a reason."

"He's so stupid!" Eli cried. "He hurts Jamie and me and now he hurts Kristy too!"

"Daddy, I no like Kyle." Kristy agreed tearfully as her father started to clean her grazes.

Jamie tugged Sara's sleeve gently and signed. "I'm sorry."

"Jamie, it's not your fault." Sara signed back.

Jamie just shrugged.

Nick sighed. "Well, I don't know about you, Sar, but I sure hope that that's all the drama we get today."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Loeila gushed, racing through Greg's apartment.

"Whaty, whaty, whaty whaty?" Greg replied, concentrating as he flipped a pancake and slipped it onto the rising stack.

"Weuban!"

"What about Weuban?" Greg asked.

"Daddy." Loeila put her hands on her hips, making the watching Catherine smile. "Don' may fun ob me cos I dus can' say my 'W' for Weuben sound."

"What?" Catherine gasped in mock horror. "Greg. Behave."

"Sorry Cath." Greg grinned.

"...we're goin' ona beah hunt, we're gonna catch a big one..." Reuben read to his granddad, perched on the man's lap.

Mark felt as if he was watching the whole scene. The small, warm body of his grandson kept him in the present, but he couldn't help but fear it was all a dream.

Shortly after the free-for-all that Greg called breakfast the doorbell rang.

Reuben cringed in Catherine's arms. "Daddy, please don' answer it for da man adain. I no like him."

"I think I know who it is." Greg smiled, peeping through the peephole and opening the door for his mother.

"Where...where is he?" Elise Sanders asked shakily.

"In the living room." Greg stood aside, watching as his mother made her way into the living room.

Mark stood up the moment he saw his wife with an unreadable expression. Guilt. Pain. Regret. Relief. Adoration. Love.

In a matter of seconds they were in each other's arms, clutching each other tightly.

Greg smiled giddily, swinging Reuben onto his hip. It was almost too good to be true. If you left out the whole 'targeted by terrorists' bit.

"Granma's here!" Loeila declared. "Me hug, me hug, me hug!"

"Okay, Lola." Elise smiled, hugging the excitable little girl.

"Happy days!" Reuben sang as the doorbell rang again. "I see, I see!"

Catherine nudged Alyssa into the hall and she watched as Reuben pulled across a tall seat and dragged it in front of the door, looking through the peephole.

"Itsa Morgan!" he declared with joy. "Aunie Caferin, open da door!"

"Hey everyone." Morgan sighed as she entered Greg's. "I'm exhausted."

"You can seep in my bed." Loeila offered innocently, curling up next to Morgan on the sofa, a little toy hedgehog in her hands.

"That's okay, I'm just gonna stay awake a little longer." Morgan smiled, kissing the top of Loeila's head. "Lols?"

"Yeah?"

"Got something for you?"

"What?"

Morgan passed Loeila a little teddy bear.

"You foun' Obby!" Lola squealed with delight.

"You left him there the other day when we all went to the zoo." Morgan teased, tickling Loeila slightly. "Silly billy."

"My name no Billy, my name Loeila." The child replied with a prompt smirk.

Greg watched the exchange from the doorway and sighed internally. Three years ago, he'd thought he could have had a chance with Morgan. But being a single dad, even with the incredible support network he had was tough.

Inviting Morgan on over half of the family outings was his answer, but it still felt like there was something so close that he wanted so back and couldn't touch.

He would have thought that the re-appearance of Lisa, or Alyssa, would complicate things, but surprisingly it only made his feelings for Morgan stronger.

He had feelings for Alyssa, sure. Pity, for one. Mainly he saw her as an ex, one with whom the relationship was never serious, and one that he no longer had romantic feelings for.

He would let her see her children. He wouldn't deny her that.

But God. He wanted someone else to be their mom. The woman who had spent the past three years helping him change diapers, fill bottles and sing them to sleep.

_Jesus Christ..._Greg thought as an epiphany hit him.

An epiphany that potentially brought with it a world of problems.

_I've fallen in love with Morgan Brody. _

**I know. Shit chapter, shit title. I'm sorry. I only like the last line but I HAD to update. Please, please, for my sanity's sake, review.**

**Constructive criticism is appreciated! **


	19. Chapter 19: Losing You

**Thank you so much for your kind reviews, I love you all so much! I'm not allowed to say things are rubbish anymore or KarmaComesBackAround will throw a cup at my head through the computer! I am quite happy with this chapter. **

**I know it's mega short but that's for two purposes. One, the greater plot. Two, I have no spare time. Full stop. (Or period for you Americans :P)**

**Sorry for any mistakes, they're all mine. **

**Twist in this way which WILL twist again. **

**Read. Enjoy. REVIEW!**

**Chapter Nineteen # Losing You #**

Morgan couldn't help but laugh to herself as she crossed the parking lot at Greg's apartment building. She loved spending time with Greg and the twins. They all said the funniest things...

_"Daddy?"_

_"...so when I cut my finger on the knife it bled-"_

_"Daaadddy?"_

_"...and the parrot picked up the phone..." _

_"Pappa?" _

_"...dialled 911..." _

_Reuben finally lost patience and clambered onto the sofa, picking up a child's megaphone. "Ooston, we hab a poblem." _

_Greg turned around with a half annoyed; half amused look on his face. "And what would that be, Apollo 13?" _

_"My light sabre boke." _

_"Light sabres were Star Wars." Greg frowned. _

_Reuben sighed. "I know dat. My light sabre boke." He held up a plastic toy that was stubbornly not lighting up. _

_"Do I look like Obi Wan Kenobi to you?" Greg raised his eyebrows, teasing the three year old. _

_Reuben didn't miss a beat. "More like Chewybaca." _

Morgan reached for the car door handle. A hand appeared in front of her face in an instant, a section of white cloth in that hand. It pressed down over her nose and mouth and Morgan instantly started to fight the unknown attacker, trying not to breathe. She flailed her arms and legs but a breath was forced from her lips and the dizzying fumes took over as her body fell limp.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Greg stared at his laughing family with a smile, before his eyes fell on a box of crystal bowls that he was _supposed _to be lending Morgan for a dinner party. They were family heirlooms that Greg was particularly proud of, but he was more than happy to let Morgan borrow them.

"Morgan forgot the bowls." He explained to his mom. "I'll be two minutes."

She nodded, Loeila in one arm and her other hand looped loosely in her husband's.

Greg jogged down the stairs, knowing that Morgan took a while before she actually drove anywhere in the car, singing slightly under his breath.

_"I'm coming out of my cage  
And I've been doing just fine  
Gotta gotta be down  
Because I want it all_

It started out with a kiss  
How did it end up like this?  
It was only a kiss  
It was only a kiss.

Now I'm falling asleep  
And she's calling a cab  
While he's having a smoke  
And she's taking a drag."

He stopped singing as he rounded the corner to the parking lot. Morgan's car was in the lot but he couldn't see her.

A white van was near it, the back door open. A small woman's body was in the back of the van, beneath that of a larger man. Morgan lifted up her hand towards the man, stroking his chest slightly, who was looking at her lovingly.

His head spun and the lyrics of the song continued in his head as they suddenly gained meaning.__

"Now they're going to bed  
And my stomach is sick  
And it's all in my head

_But she's touching his chest now  
He takes off her dress now  
Let me go_

And I just can't look its killing me  
And taking control

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea  
Swimming through sick lullabies  
Choking on your alibis

But it's just the price I pay  
Destiny is calling me  
Open up my eager eyes  
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside." 

So this was the guy Morgan was seeing. Greg _knew _there was somebody. She'd been texting a lot recently, at work. He wouldn't tell her who. He turned, not wanting to interrupt but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He knew Morgan. She wouldn't sleep with someone in the back of an _open van, _would she?

He looked over his shoulder and the uneasy butterflies in his stomach took a frantic flight, turning into birds startled by gunfire.

She was trying to push the man away.

Greg started towards them, jogging at first until he was sure. He dropped the box to the floor, barely registering the smash of crystal as it fell, each piece of Greg's beloved crystal ware embedded like diamonds in the parking lot.

He moved into a run. "Hey! _HEY!" _

The man looked up and slammed the windowless door shut, moving into the front of the van and turning it on.

_"NO!" _Greg yelled desperately, forcing his legs to run faster. He hit the white of the van as it drove away, sliding instantly from his grasp, tearing out of the parking lot. Sanity flew out of Greg's head and he started to run behind it, sprinting until it sped out of sight two blocks away. Greg fell to his knees and the crowds seemed to part around him.

A kindly woman approached him. "Sir? Sir are you alright?"

"Do you have a phone?" Greg croaked. "I need to call the police."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Since when was the break room of the lab a Day Care centre?" Conrad Ecklie asked with only mild annoyance as he met DB half way from the other man's office with Jim Brass.

DB turned to Jim. "You didn't tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Ecklie frowned.

"It's about Morgan." DB sighed heavily. "We don't know where she is. She was kidnapped half an hour ago."

"What?" Ecklie cried. "Why...why didn't you call me?"

"Because our cell phone calls are being monitored, there's a small chance that whoever 'they' are, they don't know that they've kidnapped the Undersheriff's daughter." DB explained.

"You think this is related to the Martinez mess?" Ecklie swallowed, trying to keep professional.

"We do." Brass nodded.

"Who's...who's the other boy? Colouring with Kristy?"

"Jamie Riddle. His mom's at hospital with his sisters, he's Sara's next door neighbour. Nice kid. Completely deaf." DB explained.

"Eli's friend?"

"Yeah." Brass nodded.

Ecklie rubbed his forehead. "Why?"

"We'll find her." DB said sincerely.

Ecklie nodded. "I've heard that before."

Suddenly the door to the Break Room opened and Kristy ran out. "Eckie?"

"Yeah?" Ecklie tried to force a smile.

"Don be sad. My daddy an all ob de oders, dey are gone find Aunie Mogan, vey soon. She be fine." The little girl smiled. "Untle Dim said dat Aunie Mogan is missin' but it's otay cos she be home soon."

Ecklie felt a lump in his throat. "Is that right?"

"Uh huh. Untle Dim neber lies." She insisted, beaming at Brass before throwing her arms around Ecklie's legs, hugging him. He crouched down in the middle of the lab and hugged her back.

A couple of years ago, Brass would've been shocked. The children had been around the lab a lot. They'd changed everyone's lives.

A few hours later, Wendy, Finn and Nick arrived back from the crime scene, around the same time that Greg and Sara returned from giving Greg's statement at PD. Greg's parents had stayed with the kids at the lab.

"So talk to me." DB said urgently. "What do we have?"

"Number plate." Greg said, numbly pushing the sheet of paper forward. "The van is registered to Esteban Martinez. Father of Pedro, Enrique, Jose and Diego."

"God, this doesn't _end." _Wendy murmured. She and Morgan had become particularly close, being similar ages.

"No sightings of any vans like it. Anywhere." Sara added unhelpfully.

"Tyre treads at the scene would appear to match the van..." Nick offered.

"There's nothing here." Greg murmured, his voice wavering.

"You found me with less." Nick said, bumping up against Greg slightly as a subtle reminder that he wasn't alone.

"He wanted us to find you." Greg mumbled.

Brass knocked on the door, his expression grimmer than almost ever before. "We have a DB at the chocolate factory that Greg and Morgan worked a case in a few years back."

DB's heart sank. "Oh, god, no..."

"The owner identified the victim as CSI Morgan Brody."

**Review! Review! Should she live or die? I've decided, but what do you think?**

**BTW – this chappy was written entirely to Mr Brightside by the Killers, so that half explains its appearance. I hope it worked in the plot – what do y'all think?**


	20. Chapter 20: When You Wake Up

**Thanks for the reviews! Obviously no one wants Morgan to die! Anyhow, I hope this chapter is okay. I wrote this over the weekend so I hope it's not too bad. **

**Please, please, please review, I am ****_SO _****busy, and I love to know that people read what I write. **

**Any mistakes are mine. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Twenty # When You Wake Up #**

Above a chocolate ocean hung a large wooden cross, with an angel tied to its beams. Morgan Brody's forehead was pulled back against the cross with a piece of soft red ribbon, and her hands were tied to the arms of the cross with the same red ribbon. Her feet were propped up on a small wooden block, also tied with ribbon.

They entered as those under a spell, slowly, labouredly.

She just hung there, dangling over a vat of molten chocolate. The delicious aroma assaulted their nostrils like a divine power mocking them.

_Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!_

For protection purposes, Catherine had stayed with the children. Alyssa had escorted the CSIs to the scene, officially, at least.

_Why wasn't I faster? _Greg screamed in his head, barely feeling the tears on his cheeks. He stumbled forwards and walked closer, staring up at his nightmare. She was so beautiful as she swung, her swings staccato and slow. No, just her chest was moving.

In, stutter, out, stutter, in, stutter, out, stutter...

"She's breathing..." Greg mouthed.

"Greg?" Sara asked. "Did you...did you say something."

"She's...she's breathing..." Greg repeated, louder this time. "She's breathing!"

Nick stepped forward, a pained look on his face. Greg was going into denial. "G, man, come on..."

Greg bent his knees and sprung to the air, clutching the edge of the vat as he started to kick himself up.

"GREG!" Finn yelled. "You're gonna compromise the-"

Greg reached up and grabbed Morgan's ankle and felt the weakening pulse struggling through Morgan's veins.

"I need help, we have to get her down, _now!" _he yelled back. "I have a pulse!"

No one moved.

"Are you fucking serious? I need _help!_" Greg shrieked, shocking everyone. Greg had hardly swore at all since the twins started talking. And Greg never shrieked.

Alyssa ran to the other end of the room and climbed up a ladder against the wall, balancing along the rafters. In seconds she had reached Morgan. She slowly sat down and began to ease away the rope.

"Greg, you need to keep balance and try to help her down." She called, gritting her teeth as she started to let her down inch by inch. Greg grabbed Morgan's legs and they started to lower her down.

Alyssa grunted slightly and then cried out as the rope fell through her fingers.

Greg wrapped his arms around Morgan's hips as they plummeted into the viscous liquid. He struggled and swam up, dragging her up through the chocolate to the hope that lay just above.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Finn smiled to herself sadly as she entered the crime lab's break room. Before the CSIs had left for the scene and Jamie's mother picked him up, the children had found out what was the matter with their parents. They were told by Greg that Morgan was dead.

Now Kristy was lying asleep in Catherine's lap, crystallised tears still on her cheeks. Eli was sitting by Catherine's feet, his head resting on her legs. He was staring into space, tears trailing down his cheeks. His arms were around Reuben, who was still sobbing quietly. Loeila was curled up in a ball in her grandmother's lap, sobbing non-stop.

"Knock – knock..." Finn said quietly.

"Finn!" Reuben sobbed, scrambling up and hurtling into her. She dropped to her knees in time to envelope the shaking little boy into her arms. "I...wan...daddy!"

"I know... But I have some news, for all of you, it's very important."

Everyone, including the adults, sat up. Catherine kissed Kristy's forehead. "Wake up, sweetie, Finn wants to talk to you."

Kristy moaned and woke up, looking around. "I had bad deam, I wan' Aunie Mogan!"

"It wasn't a dream." Eli murmured. "Morgan's dead."

"No." Finn said firmly.

"Whad?" Reuben asked from her hip.

"The badies...the badies tried to kill her, and the woman who found her thought that they did, but we got their in time, we got there and she's in hospital. She's going to be okay."

Reuben blinked. "Hopipal?"

"Yes. She's un...asleep right now, but she'll wake up soon. She's okay."

Not daring to hope, Eli frowned. "But Greg said-"

"Greg was wrong. She's safe, she's alive."

"Thank god..." Catherine breathed into Kristy's hair.

Loeila started to smile. "She's otay?"

"Yep."

"Weally?"

"Really."

Loeila squealed in delight, racing out of the room and straight into the trace lab.

"Odgie, Odgie, Odgie!" she called.

Hodges quickly wiped his eyes, sniffing and turning to his goddaughter. "Yeah?"

"Aunie Mogan's otay, da people on da phone were dust lying and she's in hospitatal an Finn says she's otay!"

"Really?" Hodges cried.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Loeila giggled excitedly. She climbed up onto Hodges' wheelie chair and onto the desk, cupping her hands to call to all of the adjoining, and eavesdropping, labs. "MOGAN BODY IS ALIVE! SHE'S DONNA BE OTAY!"

There was a moment of silence, of disbelief.

Finn cupped her hands around her own mouth and shouted even louder. "MORGAN BRODY IS ALIVE!"

After another moment of quiet, Archie whooped from the AV lab. "All right!"

Like an unexpected wave breaking on the shore, the lab erupted in an explosion of whoops, cheers and claps.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Sara smiled as she left Morgan's room, with the promise of returning tomorrow. She paused when she entered the waiting room.

"Greg?"

The younger man was sitting in the waiting room, his head in his hands.

"Aren't you going to see her? Everyone else is gone...She wants to see you." Sara edged.

"I can't. I can't...I can't..."

Sara sat down on the seat next to him. "Why not?"

"I couldn't... I didn't protect her, Sara, I didn't protect her..." Greg murmured quietly.

Sara sighed. "Greg, you did everything that you could, you-"

"I-"

"No, Greg. Morgan needs you right now, so stop wallowing in self pity and get into that room." Sara shoved Greg's arm.

"I'm being stupid, aren't I?"

Sara smiled. "Just go..."

Greg took a deep breath and knocked on the hospital door. "Morgan?"

The tired looking blonde in the bed smiled as Greg entered. "Hey..." she whispered hoarsely.

"Hey..." Greg choked back.

"I owe you a thank you." Morgan smiled, massaging her throat gently. She frowned slightly when Greg didn't move from the door. "What's wrong?"

Greg laughed humourlessly. "What's right?"

"What do you mean?" Morgan frowned, propping herself up.

"This...this whole thing. Jesus... Morgan, I thought you were dead, we all...the twins did, everyone... I thought..." Greg broke off. "I just...this is my fault, it's my fault that you got caught up in all of this..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean?" Morgan winced.

"Nick and Sara found evidence of the Martinez brothers."

"That's not your fault. We're all in this together, Greg..."

Greg turned away.

"Greg...there's only one thing I'm angry about..."

"What's that?"

"I thought I told you that if I ever fell into a vat of molten chocolate not to save me."

Greg laughed a little. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be..." Morgan coughed slightly. "Uh...that nurse, the one that was there when Reuben was shot...she's here. She asked if my fiancé and his children are coming."

Greg smiled a little more. "Would you like that? If I brought Reubs and Lola?"

"I'd love that." Morgan nodded. "Please, Greg, please sit down."

Greg sighed and sat down at the side of the bed. "I'm sorry, Morgan."

"If you say that one more time, I will kick your ass."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "From the bed?"

"From the bed." Morgan nodded.

"How're you feeling?" Greg asked gently.

"I've been better, but it beats being in a helicopter crash." She joked weakly, before stopping. "It was the same feeling."

Greg frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The feeling...the feeling like I was going to die...that there was no way out." Morgan's eyes dropped to her lap, tears that she had hidden from the others filling her eyes at last.

Greg instinctively touched her arm. "You're safe now... I promise."

She smiled weakly at him, wiping her eyes. "It just feels so..."

"Hopeless?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Been there?"

"When you were beat up?" Morgan asked.

Greg nodded. "They...they were everywhere. I was on the floor, and it didn't stop. You know, Nick's been there too. You're not alone. And none of us are gonna let anyone near you. I know I won't."

Morgan's heart fluttered and she smiled. "Thanks. Can I...can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

"When I...when the cross started going up, I...I was...I was thinking about all of the things that I would never get to do. Things I could never say... Things I wanted to tell everyone..."

Greg swallowed. "When they...when Brass said that you were...that you were dead...there were so many things that I wanted to say..." he took a deep breath. "Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you perhaps like to have dinner with me sometime?"

Morgan looked shocked. "Like a date?"

Greg bit his lip. "Yeah..."

Morgan's face exploded into a smile. "You look...terrified."

"Thanks." Greg snorted.

"I would love to have dinner with you sometime. Like a date."

Greg exhaled, grinning widely. "Great. Thanks..."

Suddenly his phone rang, making them both jump. "Hello? Yeah...I think she's doing okay. No, it's not too bad. Oh really? Okay...Hey baby girl...Yeah, I'm with her right now. Oh, I don't know about that...okay, okay, I'll ask. I said I'll ask." He turned to Morgan. "Loeila wants to know if she, Reuben and Hodges can visit before closing hours."

Morgan smiled. "I would love that."

"She says yes. Okay, Lola, I'll see you in a minute." He hung up. "Hodges said that the twins won't stop bugging him. They wanna see you. Kristy and Eli are both at Nick's; they were told straight out that they could come in the morning, but the twins apparently won't let it go."

Morgan nodded with a smile. "No, I'd like to see them." By the last word her voice dropped to a barely audible level.

"Are you sure you're well enough?"

She nodded, coughing. "I want to see them, Greg."

"Incoming!" Greg warned with a smile.

"I wan' see Aundie Mogan now! Odgie, kick!"

They next thing either of them knew, Loeila's head popped around the corner, Reuben's next to it. They tip toed into the room, having been warned that Morgan was tired and sick.

"Aundie Mogan." Reuben whispered, his face breaking. Suddenly he started to cry.

"Hey, hey..." Morgan reached out with her hand. "Come here, Reuben."

The little boy ran to the bed and climbed straight up, grabbing onto Morgan tightly and nestling his head into her neck. Loeila followed, sitting on the other side of Morgan, leaning onto her, holding onto her with her little hands.

Morgan leaned her cheek onto Reuben's soft hair, rubbing circles into his back gently with her hand. "Shh, shh, it's okay. I'm here now, I'm here."

"I...I fought..." Reuben sobbed brokenly.

"I know...I know..." Morgan soothed. "I'm okay..."

"Awe you loosin' youw voice, Aundie Mogan?" Loeila asked timidly.

"You know, I think I am." Morgan smiled softly.

"We will look awfter you." Loeila said decisively, burying into Morgan's side, before she too started to cry. "Aundie Mogan don' eber get huwt aden, otay? Please don'."

"I'll try." Morgan murmured, smiling at Hodges and Catherine who were lingering by the door.

"Hey."He nodded, sighing.

"Hey to you too. How're you coping with babysitting duties?"

"Well, if I had a handle on it I'm not sure I'd be here until tomorrow." He joked weakly, before smiling. "I'm very glad your okay."

"Thanks." Morgan grinned, still comforting the two distressed toddlers.

"Me too." Catherine smiled. "I would have been here sooner, but...you know..."

They all chatted for a little while, before the nurse said that visiting hours were over.

"No!" Reuben wailed, grabbing a hold of Morgan and crying again. "No, I don' wanna go!"

"I'm sorry, young man, but you have to leave..." the nurse said softly. "You're already over the time limit."

"No, I don' wan' go, I don' wan' go! Please, Daddy, I no wan' go! I do wan' leave Mogan." Reuben begged.

"Reuben...you gotta go with Catherine and Hodges, I'll be back soon, okay, I just need to finish some things off." Greg said softly but firmly.

"Aundie Mogan? Peese don' make me go?" Reuben pleaded tearfully. "I don' wan' you to get hurt adain."

"I'll be okay, Reuben, I promise." Morgan kissed the top of his head, messing up his messy light brown hair. "You gotta go with Hodges and Catherine."

Loeila sighed angrily. She kissed Morgan on the cheek and scrambled down from the bed, kissing her dad before going to take Hodges' hand.

Reuben squeezed Morgan tightly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Reuben sighed and clambered out of the bed, hugged his dad and went to take Catherine's hand.

"B-bye!" the four called in unison.

"I love you both." Reuben called.

"Me mowe!" Loeila added. "I love you mowe."

When they were gone, Greg turned to the nurse. "I'd like to stay for a while."

Having been read partly into the situation, the nurse nodded.

"Thanks for staying." Morgan whispered.

"No problem. You should sleep."

"I can't." She pouted.

Greg bit his lip and pulled out his phone. "There's something I want to tell you. I uh, I would sing, but we'd get a lot of complaints from the neighbours."

Morgan laughed, taking the earphones Greg offered and putting them into her ears before listening to the music, letting it flow over her.

_"When you wake up  
When you wake up_

I can see your hurt, see your sorry  
I know the phase, I know the story  
When hope is fading out, you can trust me, I'll be there  
When pain is screaming loud, I'll...

I'm awake to be watching over you  
Don't you worry, I'm never taking my eyes off of you  
Fall asleep now, I will be there when you wake up  
Don't you worry, I will be there, yeah yeah yeah  
When you wake up

Try to forgive, try to forget  
Try to move on, try to live  
When hope is fading out, you can turn to me and say  
"This is more than I can possibly take"

I'm awake to be watching over you  
I'm awake, I'm never taking my eyes off of you  
Fall asleep now, I will be there when you wake up  
When you wake up

Keep fighting every day, it takes a lot of time  
And it's only in your mind  
Keep fighting every day, look inside yourself, be strong  
Because from here it won't take long  
Until you wake up, until you wake up  
Until you wake up, hey

I'm awake to be watching over you  
I'm awake, I'm never taking my eyes off of you  
Fall asleep now, I will be there when you wake up  
Don't you worry, I will be there, yeah yeah yeah  
When you wake up  
When you wake up." 

Morgan smiled at Greg as she drifted into sleep.

**Any good? Please do tell. **

**Song = when you wake up - dead by april :-) Love that band! **

**Let's get lots of reviews for chapter twenty, if your enjoying it please say so, only if you just say good, bad or ugly :-)**


	21. Chapter 21: Step By Step

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! Thank you sooo much for my reviews. I really want you to keep reviewing, cos I love reviews. **

**A special message to ****_southernhemmy _****– I am very glad that I was able to make you smile, and I also have to say god bless to everyone involved in the Sandy Hook shooting. **

**I hope this is a good enough chapter for Christmas day. I tried to make it the equivalent of a TV Christmas special, did it work?**

**Warning: Bad language appears in this chapter. **

**Christmas reviews?**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. Merry Christmas**

**Chapter Twenty One # Step by Step #**

_"Daddy! Help me, Daddy! Daaaddy, help me, Daddy, Daddy, DADDY!" _

_Nick leapt out of his bed of terror and ran down the hall to Kristy's room. _

_"Kristy? Kristina?" He called. He burst through the door. Kristy's eyes were squeezed shut and she was thrashing about in her bed. _

_"Kristy..." He murmured, crossing the room in seconds and stroking her hair, trying to draw her out of her nightmare."Krissie, I'm here... Wake up, sweetie, you're dreaming." _

_Kristy opened her fear filled eyes, sobbing. "Daddy no dream! Daddy no dream!" _

_"What happened?" _

_"Man in da wardobe said to scream!" She sobbed. Nick froze, staring at the wardrobe. He lifted her out of the bed and started to back out of the room. _

_Something smashed onto Nick's head and he fell to the floor. Kristy shrieked and then there was a gunshot. _

_"No!" Nick screamed as the tiny body of the toddler fell above his head._

"No! Noooo!"

_ "Daddy?" _

"Nooo!"

_"Daddy?"_

"Kristina!"

_"Daddy, I here..." _

"No..."

"Daddy, wake up, you scawing me! Aunie Sara, Aunie Sara!"

Nick closed his eyes on the image of his dead daughter and opened them to the same little girl, hovering above his head, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"Daddy?"

"Kristy?" Nick croaked, his voice hoarse. He sat up as if a bolt of electricity had been shot through his body. "Kristy!"

He grabbed his daughter and hugged her tightly, revelling in the glorious fact that she was alive, that she was okay.

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, baby, nothing, I had a bad dream."

"What dream?" Kristy asked worriedly.

"Just a nightmare."

"You say talkin mays it bedder..."

His eyes still closed, Nick swallowed, knowing there was no diverting his daughter.

"A bad man broke into our house."

"No bad mans, Daddy." Kristy soothed, stroking her father's hair. "No bad mans here, dust Aunie Sara in da shower an' Eli an' Hank in da living room. No bad mans. Is otay."

Nick sighed deeply, continuing to stroke Kristy's hair softly. "I know now, Kristy, I know."

"Dood. We go see Aunie Mogan on today?"

"Yeah, we will."

"Now?"

"In a little while."

"Now."

Nick laughed. "No."

It was Kristy's turn to sigh. "Daddy..."

Nick smiled back, willing to give into his daughter's whims, especially one he shared, after such a dream. "Okay, okay, as soon as I get dressed."

Two hours later Kristy was jumping up and down holding Nick's hand through the hospital corridor. When they walked into the room Wendy, Catherine, Hodges, Greg and the twins were already there.

"Aunie Mogan!" Kristy called, ripping away from the father to run to the bed. "Oh, Auine Mogan, I so happy you no dead!"

"Thank you Kristy. I'm glad to see you. You wanna come up?" Morgan asked as Sara and Eli entered.

"Yuh-huh." The smallest of all their children climbed into the bed and sat next to Loeila who was sitting next to Morgan.

"Thank you all for coming." Morgan smiled sincerely. "I feel really popular."

"I'm just glad you're not dead." Eli returned with a smile.

"Me too." Morgan smiled back.

DB and Finn walked into the room.

"Hi, everyone." DB acknowledged them all with a nod. "I have good news. Jose Martinez and Mario Lorenzo are in custody, and with the evidence we got from the chocolate factory at least is enough to put them both away from a long time."

A small cheer rose up among the room.

"Who awe dey?" Loeila asked Morgan.

"The bad guys." Morgan replied.

"I no like dem." Reuben declared. "I fink we should lock dem in da cellar wib the rats and dey can be eaten to deaf!"

Everyone stared at Greg who shrugged.

"So, Pedro and Diego are still at large?" Nick asked, his voice low.

"At the moment, yeah. Did you sleep alright, Nick, you look terrible?" DB said, frowning.

"Daddy had a bad dream." Kristy interjected before Nick could lie his prepared answer.

"Oi, flappy-ears, stop ear wigging." Nick teased, and Kristy giggled a little, before sobering up.

"He dreamed dat da bad men came back to our house."

"I fink the bad men should all go away." Loeila mused. "Den we could all be safe an' happ-achoo!" She sneezed suddenly.

"Oops. You okay Lola?" Greg asked in concern.

"I fine. Don' tell da nurses I sniffly, or dey make me leave Aundie Mowgan, what I no gonna do." Loeila said in a loud whisper.

Morgan smiled slightly, feeling brilliantly, incredibly loved.

CSIVCSIVCSIV

"Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

"Diego, calm down." Pedro said mildly as his younger brother kicked a chair across the hall.

"Jose and Mario are in custody, Pedro, in custody-"

"And they'll be out in due time."

"How? That fucking bitch stayed alive, Sanders saved her, everything is going wrong!"

"Diego. Calm. Down. It was this temper that got you into the mess in Texas."

"I-"

"The stupidly harsh judge was not your fault but you started it with your temper so just calm yourself."

The younger man took two big deep breaths. "Okay. I'm calm. Now what?"

Pedro took a long drag of the cigarette between his fingers. "Now we are careful. Now we watch the way things pan out, I have waited years for this."

"So I get your beef with Sanders, and obviously with Stokes. I get why it leads back to the team. But when you targeted Sidle and that kid-"

"That was Jose."

"But you ordered it. I may be the youngest, Pedro, I know that you think I'm a useless druggie. But I'm not."

Pedro, gave a wry smile. "I know you're not, Diego. It was Jose's idea, but yes, I told him to do it and yes, it was my fight. I knew Sara's father, back in San Francisco, when she was a young girl. Therefore, I knew her too. She was a very pretty girl, fifteen, sixteen years old. One night, I uh... I got the wrong idea."

"Did you..."

"Rape her? No. I tried to get with her, but she wasn't having any of it."

"So..."

Pedro pursed his lips. "She told my wife. Lucinda."

Diego's eyes widened. "That's why she left? That's why she took the kids?"

"Yes."

"And that's why you went after Sidle?"

Pedro shrugged. "It seemed appropriate. She stole my family..."

"So you threaten to take hers." Diego nodded.

"Yes."

"Makes sense." Diego nodded. "So what do we do?"

"We wait. I don't have a plan just yet. We wait."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"Russell, I want to come back to work."

"Morgan, two weeks ago you were kidnapped, assaulted and almost killed. You're not ready-"

"I've passed psyche evaluations, physical exams... I'm ready."

Russell sighed in exasperation. "Morgan..."

"Please, I'm going stir crazy at home!"

"Well you shouldn't be alone-"

"No, I'm never alone and its driving me insane, I feel like I'm a burden to everyone and-"

"Morgan, no. You're not ready."

Morgan sighed and flopped into the chair opposite DB's desk, ending her pacing abruptly. "Maybe I could look after the kids in the break room? It would give me something to do, and I wouldn't be alone so no one needs to babysit me. Please?"

Russell considered the idea for a moment. "Okay...but no working on cases."

Morgan beamed. She danced into the break room where the others were arriving, kids and all.

"Hey guys. I'm playing babysitter today."

"Yay!" Loeila squealed in delight, hugging her 'Auntie' tightly. As the others were handed assignments, Morgan began drawing with the four children.

"Morgan? When will we have to start staying at home again? Coz I prefer coming here, but Sara says that we only come here now because its not safe anymore at home." Eli asked out of the blue, about twenty minutes later.

Morgan paused. "I don't know..."

"I fought dat dey caught da bad guys dat hurt you an' Reuben and dat stuff..." Kristy frowned.

"Yeah, but there are some more bad guys that we haven't caught yet." Morgan explained.

"Why are dere so many?" Reuben sighed, leaning on Morgan's arm.

"The world is full of bad people. These ones just...want to hurt us. But we're gonna be okay."

"Dust no let anyone die." Kristy said sadly.

"No." Morgan shook her head. Then she glanced at the clock.

"You guys should get some sleep, it's late."

"But I'm not ti-"

"Suuure you're not." Morgan rolled her eyes. "I _completely_ believe you."

She pulled out the duvets they used to make the seats into beds and tucked in the three youngest children.

"Morgan please can I not go to sleep? The others are three and I'm eight." Eli protested.

Morgan pursed her lips. "Okay, sure. You can have another hour."

Half an hour later the three youngest children were sound asleep.

"Morgan? Will you tell me something? The truth?"

"Sure."

"Are we gonna die?"

"I don't think so. I hope not. But I don't know. Anything could happen."

There was a soft knock on the door and Morgan looked up. An African American couple who looked about sixty something were standing in the hall. "Are you Morgan Brody?"

"I am." She stood up slowly.

"May we...may we speak to you for a minute, please?" The man asked. The woman was trying to keep herself from staring at Eli, but Morgan noticed how her eyes kept flicking to the curious child.

"Sure." She left the room. "What do you need?"

"We were told that you were the only CSI currently in the building."

"I am." Morgan asked, her confusion and curiosity growing with the moment.

"We...we just want to know... Did you know Warrick Brown?"

Morgan frowned. "No, I didn't...several of my colleagues knew him, but I'm afraid that I joined the lab maybe four years after he died."

"Oh...is that his son?"

Morgan shifted slightly, her protective instincts taking over. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

They glanced at each other. "Elizabeth and George Brown. We're ex CIA, we were forced to...disappear years ago. We're Warrick's parents."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV **

"...so then I called Russell and he and Sara came straight back to the lab, they left Wendy and Finn at the scene." Morgan explained to Greg as he logged in the evidence from his burglary.

"Really? Is it legit?" Greg asked with a frown.

"Looks like it right now." Morgan nodded.

"Did you tell Eli?"

"No, no. I went back in and told him that they needed to talk to Sara and Russell. He's asleep now."

"Good idea." Greg nodded before hesitating. "Morgan? I got a two hour break, there're people at the lab...do you wanna get something to eat?"

Morgan considered for a moment. "Can I stop at my place first for a minute?"

"Sure." Greg grinned sheepishly, glad she was even agreeing. They let Russell know that they were about to leave for a while and in a few minutes they were at Morgan's.

"I'll be five minutes." She promised.

Greg waited in the car, each second feeling like a minute within itself.

_What am I doing?_ He thought dismally.

This could potentially ruin his friendship with Morgan, something that he valued so much.

He thought of Alyssa for a moment. She was the mother of his children. But Morgan had stood in as a mother for them without forcing it, it was natural. She loved them, it came so easy. And he loved her. He'd practically died when they'd been told she was dead.

Five minutes later she emerged in a short, deep blue halter neck dress that ended halfway up her thighs. Her hair was braided at the back of her head and she was wearing a little makeup. It wasn't too formal, but not too cheap looking either.

"Wow...you look great." Greg said shyly, suddenly self-conscious about his shirt and pants combo.

"Thanks."

"I just need to pick something up from my apartment. Come on up." Greg said, not wanting to leave Morgan alone. The place had felt strangely empty since his dad had taken his mom back to San Gabriel. He shrugged on a smarter jacket and grabbed his car keys.

"Let's go." He grinned. They drove to a small 24 hour Italian Restaurant and allowed the waitress to show them to their seats.

"What can I get you to drink?" The young women smiled at them.

"Um, I'll have a coca cola, please. I'm still on the clock." Greg grinned.

"Me too." Morgan nodded.

"I'll get those right away for you." The waitress nodded and left.

"She was cute."

"Yeah. But not beautiful. Not like you."

Morgan laughed as Greg's cheeks went slightly pink. "You're so cute when you're nervous."

"Um…thanks?" They both laughed as the waitress put down their drinks. They both ordered and Morgan held up her glass. "So. Do you come here often?"

"Every now and again." Greg nodded with a smile, playing along.

Morgan paused. "When was the last time that you actually went out, Greg?"

Greg frowned. "Not in a while… I don't think that I've been out since the twins arrived. And before that… I can't remember."

"That doesn't sound like you." Morgan tilted her head to the side.

"Well what about you? When did you last go out?"

"Me?" Morgan grinned a little. They talked for a forty minutes that felt like hours.

"We probably should get back to work soon…" Greg said regretfully.

"I know…" Morgan sighed, as Greg signalled at the waitress.

They walked slowly towards the car, arms linked.

"Wait." Greg said, pulling her gently towards him and kissing her softly. Only mildly surprised, Morgan softly returned the kiss.

As they broke away she glanced over Greg's shoulder.

"Greg?" she murmured. "The Sherriff is right over there."

"Oh well…" Greg smiled softly, leaning in to kiss Morgan again.

In a massive burst of fire and flames, the Sherriff's car exploded. Greg and Morgan were thrown to the floor, and Greg instinctively shielded Morgan's body with his own.

Instantly crying, screaming and alarms filled the air.

"Greg?" Morgan gasped. When he didn't respond or move from on top of her she started to panic. "Greg, Greg, Greg!"

He coughed, pushing himself up. "I'm… I'm okay, Morgan, are you-"

"I'm not hurt. I'm okay." She mumbled.

Greg peered over his shoulder. "Oh god, the Sherriff!"

They started to stand up.

A woman pointed at the car and screamed loudly. _"THERE'S ANOTHER BOMB!" _

Greg flung himself down on top of Morgan again.

"Oh god…" Morgan moaned as silence fell. "Greg? Greg?"

"Yeah!" Greg groaned.

"Oh god!"

"What?" Greg moaned.

"Greg, we're lying in gasoline!" she gasped.

Greg felt fear stab at his heart and he instantly pushed himself up, grabbing Morgan under the arms and sweeping her off her feet literally.

The raced as fast as he could away from the fiery flames that pursued them.

**Please review? Too much?**


	22. Chapter 22: A Day at the Zoo

**Thanks for my reviews people.**

**However, my last chapter had 113 visitors and 5 reviews. :-( PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! I have to revise a lot so fanfiction is struggling for space in my priorities! Also I love writing full stop, so PRAISE and CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISCM are both welcomed. IF you hate this story, feel free to tell me so :-)**

**I am quite happy with this chapter, so here goes. **

**Sorry for any mistakes, both in the writing and in the details. I have never been to the States, therefore I have never been to a zoo in Vegas, so details here may be wrong. **

**Read. Enjoy. REVIEW**

**Chapter Twenty Two # A Day at the Zoo #**

"Sara?" Eli yawned as his guardian came into the room.

"Yeah?" Sara asked, smiling at her adopted son.

He held up his hands to be picked up.

Sara smiled wryly. "You don't think you're too big?"

The eight year old shook his head firmly and Sara smiled, lifting him onto her hip. He was fairly short for his age, and naturally skinny, but Warrick had spoken of being short in high school and had also been one of the tallest members of the team, so Sara wasn't worried.

"Who were those people?" he asked sleepily. "The ones that were talking to Morgan?"

"Uh, I'll tell you some other time."

"Sara!"

"I'll tell you later." Sara insisted, walking out to the car park and securing Eli into the car.

When they got home it was all Sara could do to get Eli's teeth clean and get him change into his pyjamas before he fell asleep.

She stuck a readymade lasagne into the microwave and ate it quickly, cleaning her own teeth after a taxing shift. She couldn't stop thinking about the two people that had spoken to her and DB earlier on.

_"We've been chasing an American terrorist group based in Afghanistan for fifty six now. Recently we managed to take down a major base of theirs and free several prisoners, including Mark Sanders. But, uh…thirty eight years ago, we were forced to disappear, off grid. Our original cover was blown, we were posing a risk too our family, our neighbours…and our five year old son." _

_"Warrick?" Sara asked sceptically. _

_"Yes." Elizabeth nodded sincerely. Sadly. "So, we faked a car crash, we faked are own deaths…It was the hardest thing in the world but we did it. And now it's safe to come out and its too late. Our son is dead. But we were told that he has a son and we were wondering if-"_

_"He's living in a safe environment with people who knew his father." Sara said, folding her arms. _

_"We just want to see him. We're in our sixties, we're retiring. We just want to see him sometimes. Buy him gifts on his birthday, at Christmas…" _

_DB glanced at Sara. "Doesn't seem too unreasonable." _

_"But how do we know that's all you want? How do I know that you're not lying?" Sara attacked. _

_"We'll do whatever you want, DNA test, records, lie detectors…" Elizabeth insisted. _

_"Well, now's not a particularly good time for trusting new people." Sara pursed her lips, keeping her arms folded. _

_"We'll wait." George said immediately. "Here's our card. Wherever, whenever… But please… we just want to see our grandson sometime." _

_"We'll see." Sara nodded. _

They both looked like Warrick, a little at least. Surely it wouldn't hurt giving Eli a little contact with biological family?

But god, the idea that they might sue for custody terrified Sara. Even if they said that wasn't what they wanted. Living with Eli for three years, she loved him so much that he felt like her son. She would fight to the death for him, but she knew that if she went into a custody battle with biological grandparents she would have little claim.

Suddenly there was a thud, a smash and a scream from the direction of the bedrooms.

"Eli?" Sara called.

"Sa…ra…" he replied in a strangled tone.

Sara leapt onto the sofa and ran into Eli's room. It was empty.

"Eli? Eli!"

"In…here…" the boy moaned. "Sa-ra…hel…me!"

Sara ran into her own bedroom and snapped the light. Eli was curled up underneath Grissom's bedside table. There was a smashed lamp next to him, a shard of the ceramics sticking out of his little hand, seeping with blood.

"Sara, it hurts!" he groaned.

"Eli…" she sighed, rushing to his side. "Oh, god. What did you do?"

"Sara I'm sorry!" Eli cried, tears trailing down his cheeks.

"I'll get the first aid kit. What were you doing?" Sara asked, reaching into her bedside cabinet to get the first aid kit.

"Argh!" Eli screamed suddenly.

"What?" Sara cried.

"It hurts, it hurts more!"

"What did you do?" Sara cried, running around the side of the bed with the first aid kit.

"I pulled it out, I pulled it out, it hurts, it hurts!"

"Okay, calm down!" Sara ordered calmly. "You're going to be okay…"

Five minutes later she finished bandaging Eli's hand.

"Okay. What were you doing?"

"I woke up and I wanted to talk to Grissom and I thought there'd be a card in the drawer but it was so dark and the lamp just fell and I'm really sorry!" he gargled in one breath.

"Okay, okay…why didn't you just ask me?" Sara frowned.

"Because I thought you'd say no." Eli admitted, hanging his head. "Sara…I…I wanted to tell him that I was scared."

"What?" Sara frowned. "Eli, you can tell me-"

"I didn't want to tell you I was scared because I didn't want you to be scared." Eli protested.

Sara looked up into the little boy's eyes. "Eli…"

His stubborn eyes filled with tears. "I don't want you to be scared too."

"Eli…" she pulled him up off of the floor into her arms and sat down on the bed with him in her arms.

"It's okay; you don't have to be scared. I'll protect you, we're all protecting you." Sara murmured, trying to comfort him. He was shaking.

_She crouched in the closet, amidst the broken glass and the blood, watching through the crack, holding her breath. _

_"Sir, there's something in the closet." _

_"Guns out!" _

_Suddenly the door was ripped open. Six year old Sara screamed loudly cowering away. _

_"It's the kid!" _

_"Hey, hey…" a kind looking man extended his hand to Sara. "Are you Sara?" _

_She nodded a fraction. _

_"It's okay, we're the police. Will you come with me?" _

_Sara shook her head adamantly. _

_Five minutes later the man turned away. "Marty, get her brother." _

_Shortly afterwards a sixteen year old boy jogged into the room. His hair was scruffy, his clothes a mess, his face even more so. _

_"Sara!" he called. "Sara!" _

_Sara leapt out of the closet into his arms and instantly started sobbing. Her body shook, it shook so much._

_"Hey, Sara, it's okay, I'm here now. You don't have to be scared, you don't have to be scared anymore. I'll protect you." He murmured, holding her close. _

Sara snapped out of the memory. Tyler Sidle had stayed true to his words. He looked after Sara as much as he could until they were placed in different foster homes. He'd fought so hard to be put in the same home as her that they'd declared him a threat to her wellbeing and separated the two for good. She'd never seen him again.

"If it'll make you feel any better, you can call Grissom…" Sara offered.

"Really? Still?" Eli sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Sure… I'll dial the phone, clean this up and make you some hot chocolate, okay?" Sara offered.

"Thank you Sara!" he grinned, hugging her and kissing her cheek.

She dialled Grissom's number and passed him the phone. He stood there in his pyjamas and ran into the hall.

"Grissom?"

Sara got out the dustpan and brush and started cleaning up the broken lamp to the musical soundtrack of Eli's relieved laughter.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Greg? Thank you for saving my life." Morgan said quietly as paramedics attended to their minor injuries and Brass waited to take their statements.

"You're welcome." Greg smiled back. Brass coughed and Greg turned to him sheepishly. "Is the Sherriff…"

"She wasn't in her car at the time, she's on the way to the hospital but they tell me that she's going to be okay." Brass said.

"Was anyone killed?" Greg asked.

"A mother of a two year old boy. The child's in intensive care."

Greg hung his head. "He gonna be okay?"

"We don't know." Brass answered gruffly. "So, what were the two of you doing at the time of the explosion?"

They glanced at each other and Brass raised an eyebrow.

"We were coming back from lunch." Greg responded.

"Lemme guess?" Brass grinned mockingly. "Kissy-kissy?"

"No, no!" They both protested elaborately.

"Okay lovebirds." Brass rolled his eyes. "Let's wrap this up and get the two of you back to your nest, or the lab, or whatever is closer."

"Oh, hah hah." Greg rolled his eyes.

By the time they'd given official statements, reported to Russell and finished everything off, it was the end of shift.

"I need to go reclaim those two children that I think might be mine." Greg joked.

"Oh, the ones abandoned in the Las Vegas Crime lab?" Morgan asked, playing along, before pulling Greg aside.

"Greg, I…I really am serious. Thank you, _so _much for saving my life. You picked me up, that was…well, it was pretty amazing."

Greg smiled shyly, feeling himself blush. "You're very welcome."

Only minutes later, Greg crouched down beside Reuben's makeshift bed.

"Hey Reubs…" he murmured, softly stroking his son's hair. "Time to wake up…"

The little boy moaned softly and wrinkled up his nose, before opening his eyes. "Daddy?"

"Yeah… did you have a good sleep?" Greg asked softly.

Reuben gave a non-committal grunt and held out his arms. Greg picked him up, smiling as the child's exhausted head lolled against his shoulder.

"Love you, Daddy…" Reuben sighed softly.

"I love you too." Greg smiled as Morgan rubbed circles in Loeila's back.

"Lola…wake up now sweetie…"

Loeila huffed quietly, moving her strawberry blonde curls away from her face. She stretched all of her limbs, opening her eyes slowly. "Aundie Mogan?"

"Yeah, its me." Morgan smiled. "It's time to go home, baby girl."

"You comin'?" Loeila sniffed, crinkling up her nose just like her brother as she tried to shake the smothering waves of sleepiness.

"Yeah… Catherine and Alyssa are coming back too." Morgan smiled. Catherine and Alyssa were both still in Vegas to protect Greg officially and the others non-officially, and Catherine had stayed at the lab while Alyssa had gone out into the field with Nick, Finn and Wendy.

"Otay…" Loeila yawned, holding out her hands to Morgan, who willingly took the little girl into her arms.

"I need to stop by the store on the way home." Greg announced.

"Okay," Morgan nodded, "That's fine by me."

"Uh, Nick needs another couple of hours for the case, so Alyssa said to meet us at yours, Greg." Catherine nodded.

"Sure." Greg shrugged.

The lady at the checkout smiled at the five tired people passing through the store. "Family dinner?"

"Something like that." Greg smiled.

"You have two beautiful children." The lady nodded at Loeila. "She looks just like her mother."

Greg laughed a little. "Thanks."

"Dat Lady fought Mogan was my mommy!" Loeila remarked. "I would wike dat!"

"Would you?" Morgan smiled.

"Daddy and Aunie Morgan should get married!" Reuben gasped.

"That'd be cool, wouldn't it?" Catherine laughed.

Greg and Morgan glanced at each other and blushed. Catherine raised an eyebrow and mentally filed the conversation away in the gossip section of her mind for later use.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Okay, one serial rape case solved." Wendy sighed tiredly. "And boy am I looking forward to getting home and having a nice long shower followed by shed loads of Ben and Jerry's. What about you guys?"

"Looking forward to sleeping for a long time. I have no idea how you guys handle night shifts all the time!" Alyssa punctuated her sentence with an impromptu yawn.

"You'll be used to it soon. I have a date." Finn announced.

"Good for you." Nick laughed. "I promised to take Kristy to the zoo today. Sometimes it feels like I'm awake twenty four seven, you know?"

"That is if you don't collapse from exhaustion on the way, right?" Wendy joked.

"Yeah!" Nick laughed. "That's about right!"

Five hours later Nick pushed the stroller past the zebras at the zoo.

"Horsies!" Kristy cried excitedly, pointing.

"Not quite, Krissie, they're called Zebras." Nick corrected mildly.

"Zebras?" Kristy asked.

"Yep."

"Dey have stipes."

"Yeah, they do. Did you know they also have stripped skin as well as striped fire?"

"Well Daddy if I didn' know whad dey were, I wouldn' know dat, would I?" Kristy sighed in exasperation and Nick laughed.

"Don't be such a smarty pants, Kristina. What would your Nana say, huh?"

"Dat I should hab a horsie or a zebra?" Kristy asked hopefully, and Nick laughed again.

"No, she'd say don't be such a smarty-pants."

"Dats not nice, Daddy. Nana would no say dat. Nana loves me!" Kristina protested.

"Well, I do too." Nick declared, smiling when his daughter turned around to beam at him.

"May I pease hab a zebra? Peese?" Kristy asked, blinking her big blue eyes.

"I'm sorry Kristy but you're not allowed to have them for pets. They don't like it. They have to live in big herds."

"We could hab a herd? Dey could stay in da yard?" Kristy blinked up at Nick.

"Our yard's a bit small. Tell you what, if you're a good girl, I'll buy you a horse when you turn five." Nick promised.

"Fank you daddy!" she squealed. "Can I pay in da payground?"

"Sure, let's go." Nick grinned, parking the stroller and releasing the toddler towards the climbing frames and swings. He chased her around the playground and swung her through the air.

Two hours later, Nick called her over. "Hey, Kristy, wanna go to the diner, see if there's something to eat?"

"Otay, daddy."

Kristy ordered a chicken nuggets children's meal and Nick ordered a steak. Nick watched her use her knife and her fork like a pro.

Her brown hair fell longer than Loeila's, hanging below her shoulders. It grew incredibly fast, Nick was going to need to learn to braid soon. The dark brown of her hair was so far the only thing that she had seemed to inherit from her biological father. She had long, dark eyelashes and brilliant blue green eyes, more blue than green. She was a slight child, already losing her baby fat, but she had a large appetite.

She was a beautiful kid.

Nick's phone buzzing snapped him out of his daydreaming. "Hello?"

_"Hey Nick, its DB." _

"Oh, hey, Russell, what's up?"

_"I wanted to tell you about the bomb at the Sherriff's car. Dayshift investigated, it's unrelated to the Martinez case, Greg and Morgan being there was just a coincidence. The bomber had a grudge against the Sherriff, blah blah blah..." _

"Thank god…I hate bombers…"

_"Jason McCann, right?" _

"Yeah…"

_"Enjoy, your day at the zoo, Nick, but don't forget to keep your eyes out." _

"Alright, I will." Nick nodded. "Bye Russell."

"Daddy, you no gonna work, are you?"

"No, nah!" Nick shook his head. "I got all day with you, kiddo."

Kristy hopped out of her seat and ran into her father's lap, wrapping her arms around him tightly and wiggling around so she faced the table.

"Fank you Daddy." She beamed, kissing him on the cheek.

They finished their meals with Kristy on his lap, and then went back outside. Kristy ran straight to the swings.

A woman bumped into Nick. "I am so sorry!"

"That's okay…" Nick smiled, helping her to her feet.

"My son, he running that way, I go now, very sorry!" the woman hastened with a smile in a strong Spanish accent. She ran off and Nick shook his head. He turned back to the empty swings with a frown.

"Kristy?" his trained eyes scanned the entire playground in seconds and fear struck his heart. "Kristy? Kriss!"

He turned on the spot, looking everywhere.

"No, no, no!" Nick muttered, starting to run towards the park. He reached down to a woman who he'd seen before. "Excuse me, have you seen my little girl, she's about this tall, she's called Kristina, she's wearing white dungarees, brown hair, blue eyes?"

"I'm sorry sir, I've been keeping my eyes on my two." The woman apologized. "I'll keep my eyes out though."

"Thanks, thanks…" Nick muttered, running towards the bushes.

A small piece of fabric had caught his eye. He ran towards it and crouched down, forcing against his instinct to pick it up.

Kristy's 'blankie'.

A small piece of paper poked out from underneath the blanket. He pulled it out quickly and read the bright red writing.

_Ha ha. We have her. Go back to your crime lab. Wait for further instructions. _

"No! No, no, no!" Nick gasped. He stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth. _"KRISTINA!"_

When no one answered his call, he pulled out his phone with shaking hands, dialling a number quickly.

_"Russell?" _

"They've taken her!" Nick cried down the phone.

_"What?" _

"Kristy…Kristy's gone."

**Please REVIEW!**


	23. Chapter 23: Escaltion

**Again, super quick update, so soz for mistakes, hope you enjoy. Thanks for reviewing, but more would be lovely :-) **

**I rely on them so much :P**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Twenty Three # Escalation #**

Kristy stared at the man in front of her. He was tall; he had the same kind of skin as Rosa.

"Do you want your Daddy?" the man taunted.

Her lip trembled behind the duct tape and she nodded.

The man grinned. "Well, you're not gonna get him!"

Tears started falling from her eyes and she sobbed, but the man held up his hand threateningly.

"Shut up! Don't cry!" the man snapped.

Frightened, Kristy sobbed again, and the man snatched her by the shoulders. She screamed through the duct tape as he lifted her clear of off the floor, shaking her violently.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" he yelled.

The door opened. "Diego? What's going on?"

"Pedro, she won't shut up!" the first man yelled.

"Shit, Diego, she's just a kid." Pedro shook his head, snatching Kristy away by the back of her dress and shoving her to the floor. "Watch and learn, little brother." He crouched down next to her and grabbed her shoulders, holding her firmly. "Now Kristina, you are going to do exactly what we tell you, or else you will get very, very hurt. Do you understand me?"

Kristy may have been three and many other things, but she wasn't slow or stupid. She nodded.

"Now what?" Diego asked.

"We make the first call."

"Gotcha." Diego nodded, pulling out a new phone from a case and chucking it to the brother.

"Gracias." Pedro nodded, before talking into the phone. "Hello, Mr Stokes. My name is Pedro Martinez. I have here in front of me a little girl that I believe belongs to you. She uh…got lost."

Kristy could hear her father talking down the other end of the phone. It sounded like he was shouting. Pedro motioned to Diego, who nodded and ripped the duct tape off of Kristy's mouth before leaving the room. She cried and spluttered but the man put a finger over her mouth and she quietened.

"I have several demands. Are you willing to listen?" There was a pause. "Good. My first wish. I want ten million dollars…Yes. No. You can talk to her."

Pedro clicked a button on the phone and held it towards Kristy. "Say hello to your Daddy."

"Daddy?" Kristy cried. "Daddy?"

_"Kristy?" _Nick's voice called down the phone. _"Kristy, are you okay, sweetie?"_

"Daddy, I scared, I wan' come home!" Kristy cried instantly.

_"I know, sweetie, I'm looking for you, I'm gonna get you home, okay? I need you to tell me something, Kristina, can you do that?" _

"I can do dat Daddy." Kristy nodded, crying.

_"Kristy, when we were at the zoo, what did you ask me for?"_

"What?" Kristy frowned.

_"What did you ask me for at the zoo, and what did I tell you?"_

Kristy frowned. "A…a zebra or a herd of zebras, an' you said I can hab a horsie when I five."

_"That's right, baby girl, that's right." _Nick sobbed. _"Okay, Kristy, I'm coming to find you. Hold on, Kristy." _

"I will Daddy, I miss you." Kristy wiped her eyes with her bound hands. "Pease hurry!"

"I think that's enough." Pedro snatched the phone away. "If I don't have the first ten thousand out of my ten million dollars in ten hours, I'll give you a piece of your daughter back. Maybe a little finger. Or maybe that's too original… You can wire it to the account number my brother is emailing you right now. Ten hours."

He shut the phone and crouched down in front of Kristy. "Voy a tener mucho divertido contigo, senorita." _I am going to have a lot of fun with you, miss. _

Kristy frowned. The man was speaking in Rosa's language. "Pues, no quiero jugar contigo. No me gusta ti, señor." _Well, I don't want to play with you. I don't like you, sir. _

The man recoiled. "Hablas español… Diego, la chica habla español." _You speak Spanish…Diego, the girl speaks Spanish. _

"Really?" the man asked. "Clever girl!" he taunted, patting the side of her cheek.

_Daddy will find me, Daddy will find me, Daddy will find me, Daddy will find me… _Kristy repeated over and over again in her head. _Daddy will find me, Daddy will find me… _

_Daddy? Will you find me?_

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Greg grabbed the phone with two fingers whilst he cleared up the sticky mess of juice that the twins had made on the floor. "Yello?"

_"Greg, its Nick. We need you to come back to work, now…If you can. Please come-"_

"Nick, what's wrong?" Greg frowned.

_"Kristy, they've taken Kristy. Pedro and Diego, and they want ten million dollars, ten thousand in ten hours or their going to hurt her…" _

"Oh my god, Nick… We'll be on our way." Greg rushed, dropping the cleaning. "Be there asap. Nick, we're gonna find her, I swear."

_"Bye Greg." _

"Catherine! We need to go back to work!" Greg yelled.

"How come?" Catherine asked, walking into the room.

"Kristy's been kidnapped, we gotta go." Greg explained, walking into Reuben's room where the twins had been sent to play after spilling the juice. He froze. "Lola? Reubs?"

The room was empty. Carved into the floor was Greg's worst nightmare.

_Ha ha. We have the twins. Go back to your crime lab. Wait for further instructions. _

"Catherine, Catherine!" Greg cried. "Oh, god!"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Alyssa and Morgan both heaved together and managed to throw the trash from Greg's apartment into the dumpsters outside.

The two women got along, but Alyssa hadn't become as close to Morgan as she was becoming to the others.

"What's that noise?" Alyssa asked and they froze.

A child was screaming. They looked across the parking lot. A man was struggling to push a small girl into a dog crate in the back of an SUV.

"God, that's Lola!" Morgan cried.

Both women were overcome by maternal instinct, but while Alyssa's urged her to snap out her phone and call it in, Morgan's ran deeper and pushed further.

Without thinking she raced towards the truck, the same way that Greg had run across the parking lot towards her, except she reached her target. She smashed into the back of Diego Martinez and smashed her fist into the back of his head.

He roared and turned, throwing Loeila into the crate. Reuben was in the open crate next to her, tears in his eyes.

He smashed his fist into Morgan's stomach. She wheezed and kicked his groin. They fought a one sided battle, the beefy drug dealer versus the tiny blonde CSI.

Morgan was thrown to the floor. She reached to her side and grabbed for her gun, but Diego stomped on her fingers. She kicked at him again and scrambled to her feet, standing in front of Reuben's crate. Reuben instantly threw himself at her, grabbing onto her back while she pushed Diego away. She lunged for Loeila but Diego pulled out a gun and pointed it at the little girl's head.

"Stop now or I'll shoot this little girl in the head."

Morgan froze. The man slammed the crate shut and Loeila screamed.

"MOWGAN!"

"Please, don't do this, please!" Morgan cried. "I will let you leave, please, just don't take-"

Diego kicked Morgan in the chest and she fell over backwards, on top of Reuben. Diego smashed the car door shut on Loeila's screams and ran into the car.

"NO!" Morgan screamed as the car drove away. "STOP, LOLA!"

"Mogan, Mogan, Mogan!" Reuben cried. "Lola gone, Aunie Mogan!"

Morgan climbed off of him. "Reuben, are you okay honey?"

"No, I scared, I hurtie and Loeila's gone!" Reuben screamed.

"I know, I know!" Morgan cried, pulling him into her arms and holding him close. "We're gonna get her back."

Morgan stood up and started screaming at Alyssa, who hadn't moved. "Where the hell were you?"

"I was calling it in, I-"

"You let them get away! You just stood there and watched while he took Lola, he kidnapped your daughter and you just watched!" Morgan cried, furious.

Alyssa's eyes filled with tears. "I could… I could…"

"What?" Morgan screamed.

"I couldn't move. I can't move…"

"Oh yeah? And why would that be?" Morgan growled.

"Because there is a trip wire beneath my feet, I stepped on it and if I moved my feet, that suitcase where the car was parked will explode and you'd have all died." Alyssa explained coolly.

Morgan stopped for a minute and the only sound between the two icy glares was Reuben's broken crying.

"Mogan, Mogan…" Reuben sobbed. "Mogan!"

"I'm here, I'm here." Morgan soothed, rubbing circles into his back. "I got you; I won't let them hurt you. _You _can sit here and wait for the bomb squad, I am getting him inside and I'm telling Greg."

"Morgan!" Greg yelled, running towards them. "Reuben? Reuben!"

"Daddy!" Reuben wailed.

"Greg!" Morgan cried. "Greg, Lola's gone, I'm so sorry, I tried to stop them, I tried, but!"

"Oh Jesus Christ, no!" Greg moaned, drawing closer.

Morgan expected Greg to take Reuben but instead he flung his arms around both of them, holding them tightly.

"Where is she now?" Greg cried. "Are you two hurt?"

"No, no." Morgan shook her head.

Reuben clung to Morgan, though he kept his hand entwined in Greg's hair.

"Daddy, da man took Lola, he took Lola, Daddy!"

Greg nodded with tear filled eyes, fear and panic stabbing at every inch of his body, coupled with the numbing tones of relief that came from Reuben being alive and with him.

"Kristy's gone too." Greg murmured gruffly, messing up Reuben's hair gently as his sobbing started anew.

_God…_ Greg thought. _Please God… Give us our children back before I kill someone. _

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

As soon as the bomb squad and the CSI's were down in Greg's apartment and the parking lot, Wendy, Morgan, Alyssa, DB, Greg, Morgan and Reuben all arrived at CSI.

Nick, who hadn't been trusted to remain impartial and Finn, who was staying with him, both met them as they came in.

Finn and Nick hugged the others tightly.

"Sara's coming, I called her." DB announced

Greg's phone buzzed. "I don't know that number."

"My office!" DB hurried, bringing Greg in while the others hovered anxiously by the door.

"Russell, I'm not ready for this." Greg swallowed as the phone continued to ring.

"You can do this." Russell nodded, clamping a hand on his shoulder.

Greg put up the phone on speaker. "Hello?"

_"Hello, Mr Sanders. My name is Diego Martinez. I have in front of me here a little girl, who I think belongs to you."_

"You…what do you want from us?"

_"Very to the point. You probably know from your amigo that I want ten million dollars from him. I have a different request for you. I want a plane. Military grade. And I want it in five hours. And I want it left at the abandoned warehouse. I will email you the address." _

"It may take me more than five hours." Greg swallowed.

_"Well, if it does then your little princess will get hurt." _The man said, with what sounded like glee in his voice.

"I wanna talk to her. Now." Greg said firmly.

_"Alright. Here's the little angel." _The man laughed and a new little voice chimed down the phone.

_"Daddy? Daddy, where are you?" _she cried.

"Lola, it's okay, Lola, it's okay…"

_"Daddy, Daddy, I no like it hewe, I wanna come home. Dese people no nice, Daddy, dey no nice and I no like it." _

"I know, sweetie but can uh…can you tell me something?"

_"What, Daddy?"_

"How many times have you and your brother fought?"

_"Daddy? We don' fight. We dus have angy talks an aguments." _

"Good girl…" Greg covered his mouth with his hands.

_"Daddy?"_

"Yeah?"

_"Awe Weuben an' Mowgan otay?"_

Greg half laughed. _That's my girl… _"Yeah, they're doing okay."

_"Daddy I-"_

_"That's enough of an adoring conversation." _Diego butted in. _"Five hours, Mr Sanders, your time is ticking away."_

The phone went dead and Greg's knees buckled. DB grabbed his arm and spun a chair around to catch him, and Greg's head dropped into his hand.

"A plane?" Greg moaned. "How am I going to get a plane? In five hours?"

"We'll figure something out." DB soothed.

"How?" Greg cracked.

Nick shoved open the door. "Greg, is she-"

"They want a plane." Greg stammered. "A plane, in five hours or they're going to hurt my baby girl…"

"Daddy!" Reuben cried, racing into the room and launching into his father's lap. "Daddy!"

Reuben buried his face in his father's chest and started to sob hopelessly. Greg held him close, stroking his back softly.

"I…wan'…my…sister!" Reuben wailed. "I miss her, Daddy."

Greg rocked back and forth.

DB gritted his teeth in anger at the image of his broken family.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Eli! Eli!" Sara cried, "Get in here, now!"

"What's wrong?" Eli replied, following Sara's voice into the living room.

As soon as she saw Eli, Sara wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "We need to go back to the lab."

"Okay." Eli answered evenly, hugging Sara back before drawing back. "But I'll be late for school…"

"Eli," Sara swallowed. "You're missing school today."

"Missing? Why?" Eli frowned.

"Kristy..." Sara took a deep steadying breath. "Kristy and Loeila have been kidnapped."

Eli's mouth dropped open. "Wh-wh-what?"

"Grab your emergency bag, it's by the door, let's go." Sara ordered, taking his hand and racing back to the car.

"Sara, are they gonna be okay?" Eli cried as they ran.

"I don't know, but we're gonna-" Sara cut off as her hand touched the door handle.

"Sara? What's wrong?"

"Eli, there're two men sitting in a Nissan, three cars down. This handle is hot, this car is dangerous. When I say, I want you to run. The other way, as fast as you can, okay? I'm right behind you."

"Sara!" Eli cried, slinging to her arm. "Sara-"

"Go, now!" she yelled. "Run!"

Eli burst out running in the opposite direction. As soon as he was three cars away Sara followed. Sure enough she'd hardly reached the second car when the SUV exploded.

Eli turned in time to see her fall to the floor. "Sara, _NO!"_

"Eli, run!" Sara coughed, scrambling to her feet. "Run, now!"

He ran back but she pushed him forward. "They're following us. Run!"

Eli ran. He moved his feet, one after the other and he ran as fast as he could. He ran. He ran.

He stumbled.

He fell.

Sara stopped.

Something smashed into the back of her head, something hard, something big. She fell to the floor.

This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening.

_"SARA! SARA, HELP ME!" _Eli screamed as a man picked him up off of the floor.

Sara moaned, pushing up with quivering arms, wiping the blood away from her face.

_"SARA!" _Eli screamed as the man tried to force him into a car.

She ran towards them, pulling out her gun. The man jerked Eli in front of his body and pointed a gun at Eli's head, whilst his partner aimed the gun at Sara.

Hopelessly Sara's gun started to lower.

A gunshot rang through the air.

Eli fell.

**Ooh? Who shot? Who died? Review? Aiming for 160 reviews in the next three chapters. PLEASE review :)**


	24. Chapter 24: Deliver Us From Evil

**Thanks for the reviews! Quick update, real quick! Soz for mistakes! Please review! **

**Remember, in this story, the devil's in the details!**

**Please review? **

**Read. Enjoy. Review**

**Chapter Twenty Four # Deliver Us From Evil #**

Instantly the man not holding Eli began to fire rapidly in the direction of Sara's house.

Sara crawled forward along the floor, dragging Eli away from the dead captor's corpse. He was screaming, screaming so loud. Screaming meant he was alive.

Eli instantly wrapped his arms around Sara's neck.

"Sara, run!" A male voice yelled.

Instinctively Sara scrambled back a few steps before climbing to her feet and dragging Eli a few cars back, to hide. She identified the man quickly.

"Harry Riddle?" She yelled.

"Sara, get Eli away from her, now! Run, Sara!" Harry yelled, firing back at the assailant.

Sara paused, not wanting to abandon the neighbour who had come to her aid.

That was until another man got out of the back of the van and fired at Sara, who quickly fired back. Too frightened to scream, Eli clutched tightly to Sara, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Sara," he whispered into Sara's ear, "Sara, are they gonna take me too?"

In response, Sara turned and ran, ducking behind a car. Especially since Eli had come to live with her and Grissom, Sara prided herself on keeping fit, but sprinting with an eight year old wasn't easy.

She turned down the street straight away, easing her phone out of her pocket. She called dispatch and started shouting down the phone. The sound of screaming tyres filled her ears and she ran faster.

Something hit her in the back, something big, another one of the things that had hit her before, some sort of ball. She tripped and fell, outstretching her arms to try and stop from falling on Eli. Within seconds strong arms grabbed hers and pulled her into the air.

"Let go!" Sara yelled through gritted teeth. "Get of me… Eli, run!"

"Kid, if you run, I will shoot this bitch who acts like your mommy!" the man yelled, digging a gun into Sara's head. "You hear me?"

Eli scrambled to his feet, staring at Sara with wide eyes.

"No, Eli, run! Don't worry about me, Eli, run!" Sara ordered.

"I will _shoot _her! Get your scrawny ass in the van, now!"

"Don't, Eli, run!" Sara insisted.

The man aligned his gun with the back of Sara's head, pulling the trigger and slashing across the back of her head.

Painful, not dangerous.

Sara screamed in pain, before gritting her teeth. The man repositioned his gun to Sara's temple.

"Next time, the bullet won't scrape, it will go through? Understand?"

Eli nodded hastily.

"Van. Now."

"If I get in, you won't hurt her?" Eli asked bravely.

"Eli, no!" Sara yelled.

"I won't kill her, no." the man said. "Now, get in the van."

Eli moved into the back of the van.

The man threw Sara to the floor and pulled a syringe out of his pocket. He stabbed it violently into Sara's neck.

"NO!" Eli screamed. "Sara!"

The man climbed into the back of the van with Eli and it drove away, leaving Sara drugged and bleeding on the floor.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Brass strode into the layout room. "We have a _big _problem."

DB sighed angrily. "What now?"

Brass glanced at Reuben briefly.

"Uh…Reuben, I'm really hungry, will you come and help me chose what chips to get from the vending machine?" Henry offered his hand.

Reuben took Henry's hand and followed him out of the room.

"Eli's gone." Brass announced. "And Sara's in the hospital, she put up a hell of a fight but it appears that the bastards knocked her out with a paralytic drug, the doctors say that she'll be okay in a day or two."

"Jesus Christ!" Greg yelled, kicking a chair as hard as he could. "I want to _kill_ somebody!"

Someone knocked at the door and everyone froze. Brass's mouth fell open. "Ellie?"

The brunette women nodded awkwardly. "Yeah… Hi Dad. I have information. About the missing children."

"What do you mean?" Brass asked, frowning.

"I saw on the news, the little girls. An' my ex-boyfriend called me and he was acting weird. Said that he knew I was in Vegas and he wanted to talk. We hooked up, and he brought you up, Dad, which I thought was weird. He wanted me to ask you about the security around a kid called Eli Brown. I told him no way, he was acting creepy. Then it got even weirder, he got violent, so I left the diner. But I knew that guy you worked with that died was called Brown and I knew he had a kid, so I figured that was why he thought you'd know about the boy. I also remembered the names Stokes and Sanders, and I filled in the blanks."

Everyone stared at her and she shuffled awkwardly.

"Look, just because I'm not a cop doesn't mean I'm stupid. I followed him, my ex, and I watched him snatch the little boy and inject the woman, Sara, I recognised her. I wanted to stop them but they had guns, it was serious, so I backed away. When they left I went to the woman, dialled 911 then came right here, I thought I could help." Ellie explained.

"Who's your ex?" DB asked.

"His name is Diego Martinez, I dated him like, ten years ago. Him even calling me was weird, but hey."

"Thank you for coming, Ellie is it?" when she nodded Finn continued. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Yeah, that's why I bothered to come in. Diego and his brothers, they kinda have a warehouse in the desert."

"Kinda?" Brass asked.

"Yeah, they don't actually own it, not anymore, anyway. It doesn't have an address or anything, just some coordinates, I wrote them down, here you to." She handed them to DB. "I think that's it, but it's been a while. They had a kinda ring to them, and I always remember places. The place is way out in the desert."

"Thank you, that's very helpful." DB mused. "Wendy, will you check it out?"

"Yeah, sure." Wendy nodded.

"I think they owned it a while back, about twenty years?" Ellie added.

"Okay." Wendy smiled, leaving the room.

"How deep is Diego in this?" Ellie asked.

"Very." Greg replied, his arms folded tightly across his chest.

Ellie sighed. "Doesn't surprise me. He was always a creepy guy. In the two months we dated, he would sometimes say things that would make me wanna slap him. Has he…has he hurt them?"

"We don't know, but he will unless we come up with the ransoms." Nick said. His arms were also folded across his chest. He and Greg were practically mirroring each other, stood up straight, arms tight across their chests.

"Damn him. Do you know the car they drive?" Ellie asked.

"Do you?" Nick asked.

"Diego drove a Cadillac when I knew him but know he has a back van. A ford transit van, number plate PH9 JK3."

"Get moving people, you know what to do." DB announced, and they all did.

"I'll put some birds in the air." Brass nodded, snapping out his phone.

"I'll amend the BOLO." Finn announced.

"Russell I have two hours." Greg said shakily. "Two hours before they…"

"Okay… why would they ask that from you, think about it, do you know-"

"I don't know anyone who can get me a plane, Russell, I have no money, I-"

"A plane?" Ellie asked. "They want a plane?"

"Military grade. For one thing. They also want ten million dollars." Nick said.

Ellie frowned and the phone rang. DB picked up. "Hello?" his eyes widened. "It's them." He mouthed. "Yes. Is Eli okay? Good, I'm glad to hear that. What about the girls? Okay. You want…okay. Okay. I understand. Can I talk to Eli? Great… Hi Eli, how you doing buddy? I know. Yeah, she's in hospital, but she's doing great. Hey, Eli, I've been trying to remember, what was that thing you told me the other day, the joke about the elephant…that's the one. Have you – okay, Martinez. I will. Sure…sure…" DB slammed the phone back down on the cradle.

"Is Eli okay?" Morgan asked.

"Seems to be. God… the first thing he asked was about Sara, if she's okay…" DB ran a hand over his forehead.

"What do they want now?" Greg asked.

"Something I'm going to look for now." DB frowned, heading for his office.

"Mary-Jane!" Nick cried suddenly, pointing at Greg.

"What?" Morgan frowned.

"Greg, I can get you your plane, maybe!" Nick grabbed his phone and ran out of the room.

Greg's eyes lit up. "I can't get ten million, but I can definitely get one, in probably less than ten hours."

"How?" Morgan frowned.

"Papa Olaf. He's got the money." Greg ran from the room, pulling out his own phone. As he passed Henry's lab Reuben ran out and intercepted him, grabbing onto his leg.

"Hey, buddy. Daddy needs to make a phone call."

"Daddy me come!" Reuben sniffed, staring up at him.

Greg swallowed, tears springing to his eyes. He pulled his son up onto his hip. "Okay. Sure." He was quick to dial his grandfather's number

_"Greg, how are you?" _

"Not very good at all. Listen, Papa Olaf, Loeila's been kidnapped, Kristy's gone too, Kristy Stokes and Eli Brown."

_"Å, herregud… Greg, what can I do?" _

"They've given separate ransoms for each of them, but Nick needs ten million dollars, and they need the first million in ten hours or they're gonna hurt Kristy. I need a plane, but Nick's working on that. Can you wire me a million? Please? I can get it back ASAP but-"

_"Getting it back is not my concern. Which account do you want me to wire it to?" _

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Eli watched the men silently. There were five of them, but he guessed that only the two Spanish ones really cared about what was going on. The others just seemed to care about the cash they were being given every hour or so.

He wondered whether Kristy and Lola were nearby.

"Hey, kid, stand up!" the younger Spanish man asked.

Eli did as he was told.

"You can all go now." Pedro told the other men. Just before they reached the door, the older man pulled out the gun and got off three shots. The men dropped to the floor, blood exploding from the back of their heads.

Eli's mouth fell open in horror.

"Kid, go over there." Pedro motioned towards the bodies with his gun.

Terrified, Eli shook his head.

"Look, kid, if you go over there and do a little job for me, you can see your little friends. Loeila and Kristina. You want to make sure they're okay, right?"

Eli slowly walked over to the bodies, his whole body quivering.

"Take those bodies, drag them into that pit over there, you see?" The man ordered.

Eli stared at the man, then at them men's huge bodies.

"Hurry up, child." The man snapped, firing a bullet about a foot away from Eli's head.

The boy dropped, covering his head. He slowly stood up, taking a hold of the man's bloodied hand and dragging him as hard as he could.

"I suggest you move quickly, kid. We can always hurry up cutting of one of Loeila's fingers. She doesn't really need all ten, does she?"

Fearfully Eli pulled harder, eventually dragging the man into the pit.

"Now the other two."

Eli did as he was told, slowly but surely dropping the bodies into the hole.

"Can I see them now, please?" Eli asked. It was the first thing he'd said since they got out of the van.

The man clamped a hand over Eli's shoulder and forcibly pushed him over to a large box. The man opened it and Kristy flinched away in fear. There was duct tape across her mouth and attaching her hands together.

The man leaned down with the hand that was holding Eli and wrenched her out. Then he pulled open a small cupboard and pulled Loeila out of it.

"There you go." The man grinned evilly. "Do what you want with them, I don't care."

Eli watched as the man walked away. Kristy instantly nestled into Eli's shoulder. He pulled the tape gently off of Loeila's mouth and hands first, before doing the same for Loeila.

"Eli what happening?" Lola asked.

"I dunno." Eli whispered. "I'm scared too."

"Eli, I wan' go home. _Home, _Eli. I wan' my Daddy." Kristy keened, hugging Eli tightly.

"Can we wun, Eli?" Loeila asked.

"Where to? We're in the desert, we'd die." Eli explained.

Suddenly gunfire exploded around and the three children froze. The older Spanish man raced in and picked Kristy up, snatching her away from them.

"You want her to live, you follow me now." The man ordered. They automatically followed, climbing into the back of the van. The younger man started the car engine, and Kristy stared out of the back window, her eyes suddenly filling with pain and sorrow.

She screamed as loud as she could as she was driven away from a hope inches away from her little grasp.

_"DADDY!" _

**I haven't seen any of season 13 yet coz it hasn't aired here in old England, so I hope my characters are staying in character! Please tell me how much Eli is like Eli in that episode he was in?**

**Any theories about anything?**


	25. Chapter 25: Carry Me

**Here's a quickie for you! Hopefully it will satisfy your curiosity. Here you are. Soz for mistakes.**

**Thanks for my reviews and alerty people! **

**I have a challenge for you! Yay! I would very much like ten reviews for this chapter. There were 93 visitors to my last chapter, I'm asking for ten people. **

**At school I have exams AND coursework so this unfortunately may easily slip beneath the pile if people aren't enjoying it… or if I don't know that people are! **

**Read. Enjoy. REVIEW!**

**Chapter Twenty Five # Carry Me#**

"Now what are we gonna do?" Diego yelled at Pedro.

"Calm down." Pedro sighed, driving steadily.

"Calm down? I'm not gonna calm down! If they are coming for us, then they're not going to pay the ransom."

"They will. They need a little persuading but they will pull through." Pedro soothed. "Now sit down before we crash."

Diego slowly sat down in the chair. "What are we gonna do?"

"Go to my choice of place."

"Shit, man, they're following us! Go, go, go!" Diego yelled suddenly.

"Sit down, shut up and buckle up." Pedro said, stomping on the accelerator.

The three children tumbled around in the back of the car as he started to swerve a little. Suddenly the car crashed into something in the front of them.

All three children screamed, and Kristy pressed her face up against the back window of the car and her little heart almost stopped beating.

"Daddy!" she gasped as she watched Nick jump out of the car, drawing his gun. She pushed her hands up on the cold glass of the back windshield. "Daddy! Daddy help us!"

Nick swallowed the lump in his throat as he approached the car. "Get out of the vehicle!"

The door snapped open and Pedro Martinez jumped out, aiming his own gun at Nick. "Put your gun down, Mr Stokes."

"Let the kids go." Nick ordered.

"Look in the back, Mr Stokes." Pedro pointed to the truck.

Nick stopped breathing when he saw Diego in the back, his gun shoved against Kristy's head.

The next thing he knew Pedro smashed into him, bringing his gun onto Nick's head. Determined not to go down without a fight Nick swung his fist into Pedro's jaw. The two men burst into a deadly battle of fists and feet.

"Daddy!" Kristy screamed as Nick fell to the floor, motionless. "No, dats my Daddy! Daddy, peese!"

"Shut up!" Diego yelled as Pedro wrenched the back door open, pulling Eli and Loeila out of the back of the van and racing over to Nick's SUV.

Diego dragged Kristy out of the van but she gave him more trouble than the other two had given his brother combined.

"Daddy!" she wailed, leaning towards Nick, stretching out both of her arms. "You hurted my Daddy!"

"Jesus!" Diego cried, struggling to get her into the car. Finally he smacked her, hard.

Kristy screamed but she stopped suddenly, terrified. Diego shoved her in the back seat, ripping duct tape off out of his pocket, holding it toward her mouth. She turned her face away but Diego grabbed her chin and smoothed the tape over the girl's mouth, taping her hands together, before locking her in the back of the car with the other two, who were already gagged and taped.

Loeila was leaning on Eli, who was doing his best to look after his two 'cousins', who he truly believed were more like siblings. Kristy started crying from fear again, choking on the gag. Eli dropped his head onto hers, allowing her to nestle into his side.

Eli squinted up through the windshield at the stars above and directed his thoughts to them as hard as he could.

_Mommy? Dad? I dunno if you can hear me, but Mom you told me to believe in angels. We could really use some angels now… Mommy? Daddy? Please?_

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Nick slowly opened his eyes. There was a woman swimming into his vision.

"Sara?"

"Yeah…" the brunette swallowed.

"Kristy?"

"There're gone, Nick. We don't know where they've taken them." Sara murmured.

"No, no, no…" Nick murmured, glancing at the clock before trying to sit up as memories flooded his brain.

"Nick, lie down."

"No, no, there's no time left Sara, the deadline ended an hour ago, there're gonna hurt her, Sara-"

"No they're not." Sara smiled a little, shaking her head.

"Sara, you didn't hear the phone call, you didn't _see_ them-"

"That's not what I mean. Nick, Greg got the first one million."

Nick frowned. "Wh…what?"

"He called his grandfather, who wired over two million to go toward the ransom demands for all of them. Greg wired the money to the account they emailed over." Sara explained.

Nick blinked, remembering something else. "Conner Turner, my brother in law, he's in the army, was a pilot for years but he's a Commander now. He's reaching out to people he knows, trying to see if we can borrow an old plane. He's doing his best but he said that it's unlikely that the army are gonna fund a terrorist attack."

"We all expected that." Sara nodded.

"Has Russell said what they want for Eli yet?" Nick asked.

"Yeah… they want Mario Lorenzo and Jose Martinez to be released from jail." Sara whispered. "Nick, they've set impossible targets. We're trapped at the hospital; the others are running around in circles. The only reason I don't have a bullet in my brain right now is that my neighbour is a genuine good Samaritan with a Glock in his drawer… and none of the stuff they want we can get."

"But we gotta keep hoping, right?" Nick asked desperately.

"Yeah…" Sara whispered, trying to remember what hope felt like.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"So why are you here? Really?" Brass asked his daughter kindly, curiously and cautiously in his office.

"Well…" she sighed, fidgeting. "Honestly, I saw the kids on the news and remembered them and…it reminded me of…of my son." She hung her head.

Brass' eyes widened. "You have a son?"

"Yeah, I do…" Ellie admitted, before interrupting her dad's reply. "Look, Dad, I was gonna tell you. Just listen to me before you judge for once, please!"

Brass nodded slowly.

"I got a job as a secretary, I got a steady boyfriend, a fire fighter called Pete O'Hannagan…then I got pregnant. When I told him, I thought he'd leave me but no. He dropped down on one knee and proposed. I was going to ask you to walk me down the aisle." Ellie wiped a tear away from her eye.

"What happened?" Brass asked gruffly.

"He was killed. Pete was killed. In a car crash… no foul play…no nothing. That's what the cops told me. I was nine months pregnant, I had went into labour right there in the morgue…anything relating to the wedding went under the floorboards in our… _my_ house in LA. It got too much about a week ago, so I left LA for a trip here… My son… Chase, he's two now… I was going to come in tomorrow…then I got a call from Diego, saw the news… you know the rest." Ellie finished, wiping her face.

"Ellie, I'm so sorry." Brass swallowed.

Ellie nodded. Looking at her, Jim could see a change in the last time he saw her. The tiny skirt was gone. In its place were jeans, a printed t-shirt and a denim jacket. She looked like…she looked like a regular, young mom.

"I have to ask…why now?"

"Because Chase was asking about his dad. If his dad loved him. Then he asked if my dad loved me and I just…I had to come back."

"I'm so sorry, Ellie. I was a lousy father." Brass began, before he was interrupted by small feet running into the room. Reuben raced to Brass and pulled himself up into his lap. "Hey, Reuben. What are you up to, huh?"

"Uncle Jim, Daddy says dat de pizza will be hewe in ten minutes." Reuben said, wrapping his arms around Brass' neck, before shyly peeking at Ellie who smiled. "Who she?"

"This is Ellie. She's my daughter, and she's helping to find Kristy and Eli and your sister."

"She pretty." Reuben said, though he lacked his usual enthusiasm.

"Hey buddy, how're you feeling?" Brass asked.

"Sad." Reuben sighed. "I wan' my sister back."

"I know, buddy, me too." Brass said.

"I hope you find her." Ellie said honestly.

Reuben nodded and Greg poked his head around the door. "Come on Reubs, let's let Uncle Jim talk to Ellie alone."

Reuben hugged Brass tightly before skipping down and following his dad out.

The two Brasses stared at each other, each pondering over the changes in the other.

"You were a lousy father. But, I was an even lousier kid. I think…" Ellie closed her eyes. She'd known it would be hard, but she had no idea it would be this hard. "When you have time, when you find those kids… I'd like to try again."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

They opened the door to the old house, picking carrying in the now sleeping children. They walked through the house and left them into the living room. Then Pedro picked up Kristy and jogged down to the cellar, opening the small coat closet that there father used to use to hang his old wet clothes.

"Mm!" she protested tearfully as he pushed her down.

He ripped the tape off of the toddler's mouth.

"Peese, let me go home, peese! I dust wan' my daddy!" she whispered.

The man pulled out a small lunchbox. He opened the lunchbox and opened a small tin of mushed up fruit. Baby food.

He tilted her head back and started to pour it into her mouth, before letting it choke down. Then he took a bottle of water and shoved it into her mouth, tipping her throat back. She protested, pushing away and choking.

"No!" She moaned.

The man covered her mouth with tape once more, and looped a rope through her bound hands, tying it to the coat hooks.

Then he shut the door and left her in the dark.

Next he took Loeila and repeated everything. The forced food. The forced drink. Expect he locked her in wardrobe in the attic.

Eli was left in the kitchen, locked in the empty pantry.

Then Diego and Pedro went into the living room and started to play poker

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Morgan walked into the break room. At the moment the word 'break' didn't represent a moment of relief in a heavy work day. It represented the heartbreak felt by each of her colleagues.

They were a team breaking.

One week, seven whole days had passed. Nick's brother in law couldn't get the plane. They couldn't get the prisoners released. And they could only get one million more in dollars.

And they had received one horrifying phone call.

_"This is Russell." _

"Put the phone on speaker and call your people in."

_Russell glanced around the break room and put the phone on speaker. "We're all here. With whom and I speaking?"_

"Pedro Martinez. You have ignored me."

_"No, no, we haven't ignored you, we just need more time." Russell said quickly. "We're working on what you want." _

"And you won't be able to get me what I want, will you?"

_"I didn't say that-" Russell began. _

"I know that you won't. Why do you think that I asked for those things?"

_The CSI's exchanged worried glances. Mandy scooped Reuben up off of Greg's lap and took him away to the prints lab. _

"This is your punishment for your failure. Diego, darme la chica de arriba ahora."

_There were a few scuffling sounds, the sound of someone going upstairs. Then the sound of tape ripping away from flesh and Loeila's frightened cry. _

_Greg's breathing increased dramatically and he grabbed onto Sara's hand. Sara blinked tearfully, and wrapped her arm over his shoulders, squeezing his hand and his shoulders tightly. _

_Suddenly another distinctive sound snapped down the phone, followed by Loeila's scream. _

"Oh, did that slap hurt, little girl?" _Pedro crooned, and Loeila started to cry down the phone. _

"Daddy?"

_"I'm here." Greg spoke up through his tight throat. _

"Are you really, Mr Sanders? Didn't I tell you what would happen if you didn't do what I told you?"

_"Please, don't hurt her, no!" Greg cried, his heart tumbling out of his chest. _

_There was another little scream, followed by two more and a collection of unidentifiable sounds. _

_"No, no, no…" Greg cried. Sara hugged him tighter, the man she saw as her younger brother. _

_"I can't get a trace." Archie whispered angrily. _

"There." _Pedro said finally, five minutes later. _"Take the little princess back to her castle. You're never going to get us our demands, so you're never going to get your kids back. I guess after, hm, maybe _years_ of abuse or so, they'll forget you ever existed. Then they can go to Columbia, and work for some drug cartel for a few years. Until they're old enough for organ harvesting."

_"You son of a bitch!" Nick yelled as the man hung up. _

_Sara's legs gave way and Greg's weren't strong enough to hold them both. _

Four says had passed since then.

Four whole days. They exhausted every molecule of evidence, chased down any lead, visited the last dozen residences of all three Martinez brothers and Mario Lorenzo.

No one had left the lab in days, bar DB who went home to his wife every now and again. A group of cops who were good friends with the CSIs went to their houses a few days in, got their clothes, some supplies. There was a steady flow of detectives bringing in food, escorting people out to hotels for showers.

Finally the Sherriff walked in, taking in the scene before her in shock.

The night shift CSI's were asleep all over the place. Greg was lying with his back right to the back of the large chairs, his arms wrapped around Morgan, who was lying dangerously close to the edge.

Nick was sitting in a chair, his head lolling against his chest, Reuben cradled in his arms. The little boy was also asleep. On the floor next to Nick was a pile of lab techs, and Wendy. Hodges was leaning against the chair; Wendy had somehow fallen into his lap. Mandy was lying on top of Wendy, Henry was leaning on her.

Finn was curled up across another two chairs, covered in a blanket.

The only awake soul in the room was Sara Sidle. She was sitting in a chair, her knees tucked up under her chin, her eyes watching the whole team sleep. Protecting them. She looked like a little kid.

"Hello Sara." The Sherriff said softly. "I see that the rumours about my nightshift squatting in the break room is true."

"Guys!" was Sara's only response, save a respectful nod.

Instantly Wendy woke up, jerking upright and propelling Mandy and Henry up to.

"Hodges did it!" Henry cried at the same time as Hodges woke up yelling, "It was Henry!"

The Sherriff raised an eyebrow and Morgan, Greg and Nick slowly shuffled to life.

"I've made some calls, spoken to some people. You'll be returning to desk duty tomorrow, you're not cleared yet for field work, psychologically, and I understand why, but-"

"We're not giving up." Nick interrupted.

"Not, I never thought for a second that you would, or even should." The Sherriff insisted. "But you need to start working, I'm sorry."

"Sure." Finn nodded disinterestedly.

Suddenly the door flew open, and their world burst to life as Bobby Dawson, now still on Dayshift, burst into the room.

"Guys, I been lookin' around in my breaks, at home and stuff and y'all, I think I might have found them!"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

_I am still alone turned into stone  
Where did you go?  
What did you find?  
where did all this come to an end?_

Carry me  
Embrace me  
What I win I lose  
This is my truth  
Carry me

Do you see me as I see you?  
So many tears in me have fallen  
So many steps I have been crawling

Carry me  
Embrace me  
what I win I lose  
This is my truth

I am falling, falling (I am falling)  
I am drowning, drowning  
I am falling, falling (I am falling)  
I am crawling, crawling

Of every pain there is, I've felt, this is like never before  
I miss your face you are in my dreams I die like never before

Carry me  
Embrace me  
What I win I lose  
This is my truth

I am falling, falling  
(Of every pain there is, I've felt, this is like never before)  
I am drowning, drowning  
(I miss your face you are in my dreams I die like never before)  
I am falling, falling  
I am crawling, crawling

**Note: Those lyrics belong to the Dead by April song Carry Me. Yes I use their music a lot, and I'm really sorry but it's awesome and it's relevant (if you don't believe me ask Karmacomesbackaround.) This is where I got the name for this chapter from, lyrics are an explaination! **

**R**

**E**

**V**

**I**

**E**

**W**

**I know you can! **


	26. Chapter 26: My Saviour

**Super quick update! THANKS FOR REVIEWS. **

**But I wanted 10 and I got 8 :( **

**10? PLEASE? **

**Bad language here. Soz for mistakes. Enjoy. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Twenty Six # My Saviour #**

"What?" Half of the room cried at Bobby Dawson as Archie followed him out.

"We were looking through old records, looking for anything new." Archie explained.

"It's been slow in ballistics. We found the house that the Martinez brothers grew up in. The only place that they were all in for the same time." Bobby added.

"We looked it up earlier, it was demolished." Greg dismissed.

"No, it wasn't." Archie grinned. "Those bastards were hackers, they changed the address, their old little isolated house is still standing, this is the address and coordinates."

At the same moment that Nick snatched the paper from her hands, Catherine and Alyssa ran in.

"We have information!"

"We have a location!"

Catherine's face burst into a smile. "Great!"

"What did you get?"

"Well, Alyssa was thinking that they were kind of acting out of proportion to what happened to them, so we were looking for more motives." Catherine began. "We found out that when they were children, the Martinez brothers were entered into a private test for money, to see if there were any links between sibling relationships and behaviour patterns. They we were _all _diagnosed with Lovell O'Shear's syndrome. It's a genetic disease, one of the main symptoms is that sufferers tend to read any grievance to themselves as maybe ten times worse than is actually is."

"So the triggers that seem out of proportion to us seem way in line when we look at how badly they were each affected by the disease…" Alyssa added.

"It makes sense." Catherine finished.

"I'm going. Now." Greg stood up.

"I'm with you." Nick added.

"And me." Sara added.

Finn stood up. "Well don't think I'm staying behind. I will call DB, though."

"I'm in." Morgan added.

"Let's move." Catherine announced.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Okay, Diego, it's time to move. They're here."

"You said they wouldn't find us!"

"Later, Diego, later. We have a plan B, no?"

Diego sighed. "Yeah, but now we won't get the money from selling them."

"There are thousands of kids in Las Vegas." Pedro shook his head.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

They stood outside their cars, frozen, as the two Martinez brothers walked out of the house.

"Hello, Las Vegas' finest." Pedro smiled, his hands in the air. "We have a proposition to make."

"Where the hell are they?" Greg yelled, but DB put a hand on his arm.

"This is our deal. Your kids are inside that house. We want to be able to leave. Once we leave, you can go in. Anyone who loves those children may go into that building."

"You're not going anywhere." Nick growled.

Suddenly, before their eyes, the house exploded into flames.

"NO!"

The police froze in place as Greg, Morgan, Nick, Finn, Sara and Russell sprinted towards the house without a second thought.

Pedro laughed out loud and Nick shoved past him.

"Greg!" Nick cried as they entered the burning house. "On the phone, they said Lola was the 'chica de arriba', she was upstairs!"

Greg nodded, racing to the staircase.

"Stick in pairs!" Russell roared over the flames and Morgan leapt over a broken vase to follow Greg upstairs.

"ELI!" Sara yelled. "ELI?"

Suddenly a small keening noise came from the kitchen. Sara raced in and the noise grew a little louder against the flames. She started pulling open cupboards and draws. She wrenched open a door and there he was, screaming, duct tape over his mouth and hands.

"Eli!" she gasped, and his eyes widened.

"MMHH!" he cried, leaning towards her. _"MMHH!" _

"Hold on, sweetie." Sara coughed, pulling the duct tape off of his mouth as gently as she could, before grabbing a knife from where it lay on the counter and slicing carefully through the tape binding his hands in case something happened and he had to escape the burning house alone.

Eli propelled into Sara's arms, coughing over the smoke. She held him tightly, before searching through the orange smoke for a way out. She started to move through back into the hallway, but a large beam fell with an enormous crash and blocked the path, flames exploding from the door.

Eli screamed again, and Sara put him gently on the floor. "Stay here, I'm going to look for a way ou..." She was interrupted by her own coughs.

"Sara! Don't leave me!" Eli cried in horror, latching onto Sara's arm tightly with both hands. "Please don't leave me, Sara!"

"I won't, I won't..." Sara glanced around the room, only to turn back when Eli grunted.

He was lifting up the fire extinguisher. He struggled for a moment, holding it towards Sara.

"Sweetie the flames are too big-"

"No! Throw it through the window!" Eli suggested.

Eyes widening in understanding, Sara took it from him and threw it through the glass.

She picked Eli up again and clambered onto the counter, dropping onto the ground outside and racing back to the cover of the police car.

"Kristy and Lola are still in there!" Eli suddenly cried.

"I know, the others're looking for them. Do you know where they are?" Sara asked, her hand on the side of Eli's face.

Eli shook his head dejectedly.

"That's okay..." Sara murmured, before her eyes filled with tears. "Oh god, Eli, I thought I'd lost you!"

"I thought we were all going to die!" Eli sobbed. "And Lola and Kris…Kristy!"

"I know, oh god, I know." Sara enveloped Eli in her arms, drawing him to her tightly.

All four of his limbs wrapped around Sara tightly, and he pressed his head into Sara's neck, crying softly.

"Sara!" Officer Mitch hissed, holding open the door to Sara's SUV.

Grateful for the cover, Sara clambered into the back, pulling Eli onto her lap and rocking him gently.

Eli put his thumb in his mouth and Sara was reminded of when he first arrived. For the first six months or so, Eli would suck his thumb if he ever got upset or scared. As his confidence grew, his thumb-sucking stopped.

Eli was more than frightened.

Sara rocked him back and forth, trying to stop the fear and add in a little hope to the mix.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Greg tore through the upstairs bedrooms, coming up empty and stared up at the hatch to the attic. He reached up and pushed and a wooden ladder smashed down.

"I'm going to double check the bedrooms!" Morgan yelled and Greg nodded.

"I'm going up!" Greg cried, clambering up the ladder and peering around the room.

God… It was so hot…

"Lola? Lola?" Greg coughed, covering his mouth as the smoke curled through the attic.

He pulled open a cupboard and his heart stopped. Loeila was hanging by her arms on a coat hook, her head falling limply against her chest. There was a row of tiny cuts on her arm, and the scar on her cheek had been reopened to a bleeding gash. Duct tape was falling away from her mouth.

She wasn't moving. Not a single muscle.

"No, no, no, Lola! Oh god, please, no!" Greg yelled in terror, ripping the duct off her mouth and her arms. "Lola, Loeila, no, wake up, no, no, no wake up, Lola!"

When he did, Loeila went completely stiff, before slowly opening one eye.

Greg's heart stopped at the sign of life. "Lola?"

"Da...ddy?" Loeila whispered, slowly opening the other

"Lola!" Greg cried, pushing her hair away from her face. "Lola, oh my god!"

"Daddy I fought I would neber see you adain!" She squeaked tearfully, throwing herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. "I fought you wewn't comin fow me! I fought you wewe gonna weabe me hewe!"

"I'm here now," he murmured, stroking her hair softly. "I won't ever leave you, Lola, I promise, I will always, _always _try to find you."

"Daddy I missed you!" Loeila choked.

Greg couldn't speak. He walked carefully over to the hatch, but to his extreme horror the ladder was on fire.

"Morgan!" He screamed.

A little cough came from his arms. "Daddy, I can' bweathe!"

"Hold on, Lola!"

Morgan appeared below the hatch. "Greg!"

"I got her! Knock the ladder down, quick!"

Morgan ran into the other room and grabbed a walking stick, knocking the burnt weak wood to the floor.

"Morgan, get her out of here! I'll follow!" Greg ordered, looking for a way to get Lola down.

"How?" Morgan coughed.

"Uh..." Greg spied a water bottle in the corner. He ran over and ripped off his shirt, leaving him in his vest. He quickly ripped up the shirt and dampened the fabric, tying it above his nose and mouth before moving to his daughter, who backed away in terror.

_Her daddy was going to do the same thing as the bad men?_

"No, Daddy, no! Someone help me! Peese, daddy, nooooo!" She screamed, but Greg grabbed her shoulder gently, crouching down.  
"Lola, it's okay. It's to stop the nasty smoke going into your body. It will help you breathe, I promise, Lola." He soothed. "See, it's okay, I have it here as well."

Sobbing, Lola allowed the fabric to cover her mouth. Greg grabbed a rope from the trunk and tied it up under Loeila's arms. "Hold onto the rope, sweetie, Auntie Morgan will get you."

"Daddy no!" She wailed as Greg started to drop her over the edge. "Daddy, no stay! Come, Daddy, come!"

"I'll be right down." Greg promised. "You gotta give the wet cloth to Auntie Morgan or she'll get sick."

"Otay..." Loeila whispered.

Morgan grabbed Loeila off of the rope, quickly tying the fabric Greg sent down over her face. Morgan shifted her weight for a moment and one of the floorboards fell through. Morgan yelled in shock and Loeila screamed.

Greg's heart stammered as the two of them almost fell from the floor. "Go, now!"

"Greg, what?" Morgan stammered through the cloth.

Greg ripped the cloth away from his mouth. "Get her out, Morgan, please, I'll be out soon!"

"Greg-"

"Go!" Greg ordered.

His eyes met with Morgan's and she nodded, shifting Loeila on her hip and starting to go.

"DADDY! DADDY! AUNIE MOWGAN, WHY AWE YOU LEABING DADDY! DADDY!" Loeila yelled, but Morgan stopped.

"Lola, listen to me!" Greg called. "You need to keep Morgan safe, okay? You need to promise me that you'll get Morgan out safe, okay? You _have _to look after Morgan!"

"But…Daddy…otay!" Loeila sobbed as Morgan carried her through the hall.

Suddenly the ash caught up with Morgan and she coughed excessively. Loeila's crying stopped as Morgan stopped, leaning back against the wall as she tried to breathe.

"Aun…Aunie Mowgan?" Loeila asked.

Morgan started to breathe in deeper, her forehead pressed against her chest as she coughed. "Lo…la…"

_I can't let her go on her own, but I can't see…oh god, I can't see, I can't breathe, I can't see, oh damn it!_

Loeila scrambled down from Morgan's waist, and Morgan's weakening hold tried to tighten.

"It's otay, Aunie Mowgan, I get you out, I pwomise!" Loeila insisted, taking Morgan's hand and looking towards the staircase. The raging fire scared her, but she'd made a promise to her daddy.

She shrank away from the flames but crouched down away from the smoke, pulling Morgan behind her, her little hand tightly attached to Morgan's.

They made it down the stairs before the coughing Morgan collapsed.

"Aunie Mowgan, you can' seep now!" Loeila cried, coughing herself. "Aunie Mowgan, no!"

Morgan coughed once more, her back arching off of the floor.

Lola glanced in fear at the fire burning around her. "Ged up, Aunie Mowgan, peese! Peese ged up, peese, no seep time!"

Around her, the fire grew hotter.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Nick pulled open yet another cupboard, searching for his daughter. Suddenly an arm started to pull him to the door.

"Hey, hey!" Nick yelled at the firefighter.

"Sir, you have to come with me, now, this house is about to explode."

"What?" Nick cried. "I'm not going anywhere, my daughter's in here, she's three-"

"Sir, if she's in here, we'll find her-"

"No, no!" Nick yelled, but the large fireman overpowered him and pushed him out of the door.

Brass pulled him away towards the cars, where Finn and Russell were waiting. He could just about make up Sara in the car.

"Jim, what the hell?" Nick cried. "Kristy is still in there, my daughter is still in there!"

"So are Greg, Morgan and Lola, but the fire-fighters say that the building is at risk of exploding." Brass said gruffly.

"What?" Nick's eyes widened. "My daughter-"

"Nicky, we know." Brass said.

"What the hell's that?" Nick frowned as a small form appeared in the flames. "It's Morgan and Lola!"

Nick ran back towards the house through the barricade that the fire-fighters had set up as Morgan staggered towards the door, the little girl beneath her dragging her out.

The second they staggered out of the door, Morgan collapsed.

The fire-fighters raced forward and grabbed both Morgan and Loeila.

"The woman, get her to an ambulance now!" one of them barked.

"No, put me down, Aunie Mowgan, Aunie Mowgan! PUT ME DOWN, HELP ME!" Loeila screamed as the fireman tried to carry her away.

"Hey, hey, stop that!" Nick frowned. "Give her here!"

"You're not her father." The fireman stated and Nick's anger flared.

"No, but I'm her Uncle." Nick growled back. "Now, give her to me, you're scaring her!"

"If you think I'm going to five a child, who's just been missing to a man I don't know-"

"Uncle Nick!" Lola cried, seeing him for the first time. "Uncle Nick, peese! Hewp me, I wan' go wib you!"

"Sweetie is this your uncle?" the fire-fighter asked.

"Don't huwt him!" Loeila screamed suddenly. "Peese don' huwt him! Put me down, dus let me go, peese!"

The man frowned, before Loeila let out a bloodcurdling scream and started flaying her limbs about.

"Look, please, man, give her to me, please." Nick begged, and the man sighed, passing the screaming toddler over reluctantly.

Instantly the screaming dissolved into sobs and Nick carried Loeila back over to the cars as Morgan was taken to the ambulance. The paramedics started to come around, handing out oxygen.

"Daddy inside!" Loeila sobbed. "He said me an' Aunie Mowgan had to go to be safe!"

"Okay, we'll find him sweetie, we'll find him." Nick assured her as the oxygen mask was covered over his mouth and nose.

Then, before their eyes, the house was engulfed by a ball of flames.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

One hour later, the fire was out.

"We found no bodies inside."

Finn stood up. "Then you found-"

"We found no people either. We checked everywhere." The man apologised.

Shaken, hopeless and furious, Nick stormed over the one of the patrol cars and pulled Diego Martinez out of the back.

"Where the hell is she?"

"What you talking about, hombre?" Diego smirked.

Nick shoved him against the car and gritted his teeth. "My daughter, hijo de puta! They didn't find her body in there, what the hell did you do with her, you bastard!"

"Oh…" Diego sighed in a sing song like voice with a sickening smile. "Are you talking about after I popped a cap in her head and tossed her out of a moving car?"

"You son of a-" Nick raised his fist aggressively and Diego laughed.

"Calm down, white boy, it's a joke!"

"Well I don't think it's funny!" Nick roared in the guy's face. "Where, is she?"

"She's in the same place that Greggo found the motive for her mommy's abduction." Diego sang.

Nick dropped the man and staggered backwards.

"The basement…you fucking ass, you left her in the basement!"

Nick ran backwards towards the ruins of the house, searching desperately for a trapdoor, yelling to the others to do the same.

Finally he found it. He struggled to lift it up, letting it crash against the floor.

Maybe, maybe it might not just be Kristy down there. Would it be too much to ask for Greg, his 'little brother' to be safe too?

"Kristy? Kristina? Greg?" Nick called, jogging down the stone stairs into the inky black basement.

To his utmost surprise, there was a weak response.

"N…Nick?"

"Greg?" Nick yelled, searching in the dark.

"Kris…" Greg's weak voice whispered. "Go to…your daddy…"

"Daddy?" Kristy's voice rang out in the darkness.

Nick half laughed in utter relief. "Kristy! Kristy, Greg, are you okay? What's happening?"

"Daddy, Uncle Greg's bleeding!"

The innocent statement chilled Nick to the bones. He eased his iPhone out of his pocket and clicked on the torch app. The room was illuminated and Nick's stomach dropped to the floor.

Greg was lying on the floor, breathing shallowly, a splinter the size of half a baseball bat impaled in his stomach.

Kristy had her hands wrapped around a little piece of fabric, pushed against the bleeding wound. A couple of pieces of duct tape lay torn and broken on the floor.

"I need a paramedic here, I found them!" Nick yelled up the stairs, running down.

Kristy looked like an exited puppy told to sit as she yearned to run to her daddy, but she stayed put, keeping her hands over the wound.

Nick instantly took over, adding more, necessary, pressure. Greg moaned and winced. "Thank…you…"

Kristy wrapped her arms around her dad's neck, resting her head on his shoulder and planting a small kiss on his cheek.

"S bad, Nick?" Greg asked with a moan.

"Nah…" Nick said flippantly. "You'll be fine."

"You be fine, Uncle Greg." Kristy added as the paramedics started to come down. As they started to carry Greg away Nick lifted Kristy up and started to follow.

Once Greg disappeared into the ambulance Nick turned to Kristy, who was squinting in the bright sunlight.

"Kristy, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry, Kristy." Nick sighed, hugging her as tightly as he dared without hurting her.

"Why, Daddy?" she asked innocently, looking into his eyes.

"I'm sorry this happened." Nick swallowed, tears leaking from his eyes.

Kristy put her little hand on Nick's cheek and wiped away the tears. "Daddy, no cry. It's no bad anymore. We all gone be okay now."

Nick half sobbed, hugging her closely.

Feeling content, safe and happy for the first time in what felt like years, Kristy rested her head on Nick's shoulder.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"You need to shave."

**REVIEW! SOrry for mistakes, please REVIEW! OR ELSE I CRY! **


	27. Chapter 27: Her Last Sacrifice

**Boo! So, I ask for 10 reviews and I get 8, I beg again and I get seven! I has a MAJOR SAD! **

**Is it worth continuing this story? :-(**

**I hope this chapter will get me ten reviews pretty pretty pretty please with sugar and chocolate and ice cream and gumdrops on top?**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Twenty Seven # Her Last Sacrifice #**

"The next time I have to talk to a parent waiting in a hospital I am not going to tell them that it'll be okay. I'll be honest and say 'this is the damn hardest thing you'll ever have to do in your life'." Nick huffed, pacing back and forth.

Everyone had been checked out at hospital because of the fire, but other than Greg and Morgan, no one was injured. They'd taken the children away to be checked over because of their ordeal; the doctors were with them now.

A nurse walked into the room. "Hello? Are you the family of the missing children?"

"They're not missing anymore." Sara said quickly, and Russell nodded.

"We are. Are they okay?"

Already aware that they'd all been cleared to be told what had happened, the nurse nodded. "Eli and Kristy will be fine. Kristy has a contusion on her head from where she was hit by someone, but there was no major damage done. They were both dehydrated and a little malnourished, but there was no permanent damage. Loeila... It looks like they may have...tortured her." She admitted, wincing as the CSIs and lab techs, who had raced to the hospital, all flinched. "She had several cuts on her arm and her cheek needed a few stitches, but she's the same as the others apart from that."

"So they're all okay?" Finn asked. "They all..."

"Yes. But for now we've placed them in the same private room. They all got a little hysterical at times but it was expected. You can see them now."

Instantly, over half the waiting room rose to its feet, and ran into the room the nurse pointed out.

"Daddy!" Kristy, who was nearest the door, cried out as she saw her dad walked through the door. "Daddy, dey were hobbible!"

"Who, sweetie, the bad men?" Nick asked, hugging her and then taking a seat by her bed, holding her hand.

"No, da nuses! Dey made me eat da sandich coz dey had ta do a test. And coz dey said I hadn' eaten and I was hungy…"

"So why what was the problem?" Nick frowned.

"Two words, Daddy. Peanut butter!" Kristy declared.

Nick laughed in relief. "Oh, Krissie..."

"Not funny, Daddy." She scowled, but quickly the scowl fell from her face and she reached to her dad with both hands. "Daddy!"

"I got you, baby, I'm here now!" Nick soothed as she launched into his arms out of the large bed she was drowning in.

"Daddy, I missed you!"

"I missed you too." Nick whispered into her hair. "So much..."

"Dey said you gabe up. Dey said dat you dopped lookin." Kristy sobbed quietly.

"God, no! I didn't, Kristy, never. Never. I would never stop looking, Kristina, okay? Never, I swear. I love you so, so much." Nick insisted, rocking from side to side.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time we go to da zoo to see da zebras, can we bing de overs too? Coz den da bad mans would stay away. And we could all go an' it would be good an' happy an' fun."

Nick laughed lightly in shock. "You wanna go to the zoo again?"

Kristy's hopeful face fell. "Not if you don' wan' to daddy, I wan' do what you wan' do!"

Nick smiled widely. "I would love to go back to the zoo with you. How about we all go to the zoo, for your birthday, yeah?"

In the craziness of the past few weeks, Kristy's birthday had been forgotten.

"Yay!" She squealed, hugging her dad tightly. "It fun! I love da zoo!"

Nick laughed as he hugged her back. Only this child could get kidnapped from the zoo and want to return.

At the next bed, Finn was talking to Loeila. "Is Aunie Mowgan otay? I got hew out safe?"

"Uh huh, you did good, sweetie, she's asleep, but she's gonna be fine." Finn soothed.

Loeila smiled. "An' my daddy?"

Finn shifted. "The doctors are working on him, but I think he'll be fine. He's just got a big splinter in his tummy."

"Oh..." Loeila frowned, before suddenly grabbing Finn's arm. "Weben! Whewes Weuben! Is he otay?"

"He's at the lab." Finn said.

"Can I see him? Peese? I wanna see Weuben. I miss him."

As if on cue, Hodges entered the room, holding hands with Reuben.

"Loeila!" He cried happily, running over and launching onto the bed, hugging his sister tightly.

Everyone turned and smiled as the twins hugged tightly, as if they'd never let go.

"I missed you!" they squeaked at the same time, to a chorus of 'awes'.

After letting go of his sister's arm, Reuben turned to Kristy and Eli.

"I'm really happy dat you too are otay too!" he insisted.

Eli smiled two beds across, leaning back against Sara contentedly.

The door flew open and Eli's eyes lit up. He leapt out of bed and raced to the door, leaping into Grissom's arms.

The tired, worried man hugged the boy back, surveying the room.

"I hate volcanoes." Was all he managed to say.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Greg opened his eyes slowly. He was lying in a hospital bed, his stomach throbbing.

"Morgan?"

"Hey." She saluted from the next bed in a rough voice. "What happened to you?"

Greg blinked, trying to remember.

_He raced around the attic, trying to find a way down. _

_Suddenly the ground beneath his feet fell and he screamed as he fell through the floor. _

"I…I fell…"

_He staggered to his feet, and started to stumble through the blazing house. The wood once again spilt and he fell through again, an extreme pain penetrating his skin. _

"Twice…"

_Flames flew higher and higher around Greg and one of Nick's dreadful country and western songs filled his head. _

_"I fell into a burning ring of fire_

_I went down, down, down,_

_And the flames went higher. _

_And it burned, burned, burned, _

_The ring of fire, the ring of fire." _

_He had to get out…_

"I had to try and find another way out, but there was something in my stomach…I had to find another way out."

_His eyes fell on a trapdoor, and in desperation he yanked it open with both hands. He lowered himself down the stairs but slipped and fell down, his head, beating against the steps. _

_"Oh, god!" he moaned, before staring at the shaking closet. He stared down at his stomach. _

"There was wood in my stomach, god, it killed… I thought I was going to bleed out, but I was sure there was something in the closet…"

_He pulled open the closet and Kristy screamed in terror. His eyes widened and he let her out, removing the duct tape. _

_"Uncle Greg, you bleeding!" Kristy cried. _

_"Yeah!" He took a deep breath, falling against the floor. _

_"Uncle Greg, I help!" _

_"Take this, the cloth…" He passed it to her with shaking hands. "Put it on the blood, lean in, hold it there…" _

"I let Kristy out… She helped the bleeding…then Nick found us…" Greg finished. "I think I passed out in the ambulance…"

"Do you feel okay?" Morgan whispered, massaging her throat.

"Kind of. Achy…but I'll be okay. What about you?"

"I inhaled too much smoke. I had asthma as a kid, my lungs got aggravated. I almost collapsed." Morgan remembered.

Greg frowned. "What happened?"

Morgan smiled at Greg, the first sunny smile he'd seen in days. "Your three year old daughter led me out of a burning building."

Greg grinned widely. "Really?"

"Uh huh." Morgan nodded with a smile.

"When can we see them?" Greg asked. "Loeila, Reubs, the others…"

"Now if you like." A nurse sang as she walked into the room. "I'm sorry, but I could help overhearing."

"I can see them now?" Greg's face lit up.

"Everything is in order, so I should think so. Because of the angle of your wound, you won't be able to sit in a wheelchair without furthering you injury. But, there is another bed in the room that the children are in, if you would like to stay there instead."

"Yes please!" Greg said quickly, before frowning. "Can Morgan come?"

"Of course. Ms Brody, you can officially be discharged now if you wish."

"Thanks." Morgan beamed.

"Mr Sanders, with your permission the doctors and I will lift you onto a gurney so you can be wheeled up to the room?"

"Sure." Greg nodded.

Five minutes later he entered the room feet first. "It's all right everyone, your favourite person in the world has returned!"

Everyone cheered as Greg was moved over onto the bed between his daughter's and Eli's beds.

Instantly both of his children leapt off of the bed and onto his.

He kissed them both and settled with them under his arms.

"You otay, Daddy?" Lola asked sweetly.

"Better now I've seen you guys." Greg replied, before smiling. "Hey Griss!"

"Hello Greg. Are you feeling okay?" Grissom smiled, sitting in a chair with Eli in his lap.

"Yep. I'm not too bad at all." Greg replied sunnily, before looking around. "Wow, it feels like the whole labs here."

"Where's Auntie Catherine?" Eli frowned suddenly.

Brass frowned deeply. "I don't remember them being at the crime scene, Catherine would have run in… Alyssa too, probably."

"They were right behind us when we left the lab." Finn remarked. "So where are they?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

_"Cath?" _

_"Yeah?" _

_"I've been thinking." _

_"About what, Greg?" _

_Greg sighed. "I'm thinking that I want to let Alyssa into their lives. I want her to be able to come to their birthday parties, join us at Christmas."_

_Catherine smiled. "That's great, Greg. I don't think she's ever been part of anything remotely like a family, this will be good for her." _

_Greg smiled and nodded. _

_Suddenly something smashed into the back of her head. _

Catherine moaned, opening her eyes. Daydreaming about a memory only worked when you _weren't _being punched in the face.

She was tied to a chair in a large empty room, facing two thugs. Alyssa was next to her, in another chair though Alyssa was blindfolded.

Her head was still reeling from the last blow.

"Tell me now! Where are the children? We. Want. Our. Money!" the man yelled.

"Andre, it's been hours. Hours. They ain't saying nothing."

"Fine, Jay, fine." Andre snapped, drawing out a knife. He sawed through the ropes of both chairs.

"Get up." Jay snapped. "Stand against the wall."

They obeyed silently.

"Oh, fuck it, I only got one bullet."

"Think about it, we only have to kill that one chick." Jay motioned towards Catherine, talking lower than they thought the women could hear. "She's the only one to see us. That other one, dose her up with some of that shit your brother gave you, she won't remember a thing."

Alyssa froze as she listened to them speaking. She could hear exactly what she was saying. She knew that Catherine couldn't.

She couldn't let her only friend, the only person who tried to look out for her, get shot. She listened carefully. The only person who let her into a family, a true family. Catherine was her child's _godmother, _for Christ's sake!

"Don't shoot, please!" Catherine said almost calmly.

It had to be done. Catherine was her only true friend.

As the bangs crashed away, Alyssa leapt to the side.

Catherine screamed as the body of her friend fell to the floor. "NO!"

The men froze. Catherine launched at them in a blind frenzy, wrestling the gun out of the man's hand and shooting both of the men quickly and efficiently as the FBI had taught her, running back to Alyssa and feeling desperately for a pulse.

"No, no, no, no!" she sobbed as she took her phone off of the man's desk and dialled 911. "Oh god, no, not now."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Catherine, I'm so sorry." Greg murmured as Catherine stood standing at Alyssa's grave.

Catherine just nodded. "Me too."

The CSI's slowly started to leave Catherine for a moment in private. Andre Casper and Jay Jones were goons hired by the Martinez brothers, who hadn't been paid.

Alyssa had paid the price.

Wordlessly Loeila walked up to Catherine in her little black dress and leaned on her legs, hugging them.

Catherine stroked Loeila's hair softly, brushing the tears off her face and picking up the little girl.

"She's not gonna come back, is she?" Loeila asked quietly.

Catherine shook her head and slowly they walked away into the future.

**The End. **

**JOKING! **

**I will be back, as long as I get reviews. What do you think about this twist?**


	28. Chapter 28: How To Save A Life

**Thanks for reviewing people. Glad to know some people appreciate it :) A lot of work and internet hassles go into this ;) had a snow day today – so awesome and gave me time to finish this off.**

**THIS STORY IS ENTERING PHASE TWO, so... bit of a dark twist at the end of the chapter, lemme know if it works.**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Twenty Eight # How To Save a Life #**

"Daaaaddddy!"

"What?" Greg called from the comfortable couch.

"I huuuuuuuungggy!"

Greg groaned. "Loeila Maree Sanders, its bedtime, go to sleep."

"Daddy huuuunnnggggyyyyy!"

Greg sighed, pulling himself out of bed and walking into Loeila's room.

She was sat up in bed, crystal tears stuck to her cheeks.

Greg's heart melted. "Lola..."

"Daddy hungy!" She protested quietly, holding out her arms. Greg picked her up and sat down with her on her lap.

"You're not hungry, Lola."

Loeila sniffed, knowing she'd been caught. "Daddy, I no wanna seep."

"How come?"

"The bad people come back."

"When you sleep?" She nodded.

"Okay, come on then." Greg sighed, knowing how horrific nightmares could be as he had them every night, picking her up and carrying her into the living room, where Catherine was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine.

"She can't sleep."

Catherine frowned sympathetically. "Oh, no."

"Aundie Cathewine, awe you dwinking gwown up juice?"

"Yeah." Catherine nodded, and Loeila scrambled out of Greg's arms and into Catherine's.

"I sad dat Alyssa gone. She was my mommy."

Catherine's eyes filled with tears. "I know."

"An' she was youw fwiend too. When she stayed hewe I like her." Suddenly Loeila gasped. "I sowy Aundie Cathewine, I sowy, I didn't wan' make you sad! No cwy, Aundie Cathewine, no cwy! Its otay, its gon' be otay!"

Catherine wiped her eyes and hugged Loeila tightly. "Okay, its okay..." She whispered.

"Dats wight. Ebery little ting is gonna be alwight."

Greg and Catherine both laughed and Loeila frowned. "What?"

"Nothing." Greg laughed.

"Up!" Loeila cried.

"What?" Catherine frowned.

"Point! Squiwell!" Loeila said excitedly.

"Oh, Up!" Greg realised, looking at the muted TV then his sleepy child. "Have you seen Up, Cath? Disney Pixar?"

"No..."

"Well, its on TV."

"Good film." Loeila mumbled sleepily as the opening scene began to play.

"Shall we watch it?" Catherine asked Loeila, who nodded, shuffling into a comfortable position on Catherine's lap, taking a lock of Catherine' golden hair between the fingers on one hand and Greg's fingers in the other.

"I lobe you bofe." She murmured as the musical scene of Carl's life played before their eyes.

By the end of the film Loeila was asleep and Catherine was crying. "That was so sad!"

"I know." Greg nodded, glancing at his daughter. "I'm sorry, Catherine."

"It's no problem." Catherine smiled.

"I'll get her into bed."

"I can do it." Catherine protested, standing up and carrying Loeila into bed.

Greg smiled slightly. "Thanks."

He hugged Catherine as she returned to the room. Catherine hugged him back tightly. "Oh, Greg…"

"How long are you staying?" he asked. "The kid's and I don't want you to leave."

"Well… My boss knows how close Alyssa and I are…were. He's given me a month of leave." Catherine explained as she sank down on the sofa once more.

"Good… Blue Hawaiian?"

Catherine nodded gratefully and they both looked up at a soft knock on the door. Greg poked through the peephole before opening the door.

"Hi, Lou, come in."

Catherine stood up as her fiancé walked into the room.

"I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get here." Lou apologised, hugging Catherine tightly. "My boss wouldn't let me leave. He finally said I could come when I snapped and told him my fiancée's nieces and nephews were kidnapped and her best friend… anyway, _then _he let me come."

"I'm glad you're here." Catherine whispered.

"There're sheets in the bedroom that Cath's in, and a spare bed if you wanna stay here." Greg offered.

Vartaan shook his head a little. "I don't wanna intrude."

"It's cool. Lola and Reubs will be pleased to see you." Greg grinned.

"Thanks man." Lou smiled.

"No problem." Greg repeated.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

A barely audible noise entered Nick's ears and pricked him from sleep. Silently his hand started to move towards the gun in his bedside table as the soft footsteps came near, but before he could open the drawer something landed on his bed and crawled towards him.

He didn't move as a small body snuggled into his back.

"Hey Kristy." He whispered, feeling the small body jump.

"D-d-d-daddy?"

Nick turned over in bed, turning on the bedside lamp as he did. Both Nick and Kristy squinted and Kristy flinched in the light.

"Hey, it's okay." Nick murmured, propping himself up and stroking the dark brown hair away from her face.

"I sorry for I woke you." She whispered, looking scared.

"Hey, it's _okay," _Nick repeated, smiling at the little girl, his heart falling. His daughter was scared of everything. Including him. "It's okay, Kristy. I'm not going to hurt you, what's wrong?"

"I know you no hurt me, Daddy, I know." She whispered, though she didn't sound completely convinced. "I…I too scared to seep." She closed her eyes in shame. "I sorry, daddy, I…"

"Don't be sorry. Don't be sorry."

"I don' wan' too be a touble…" she mumbled, after being told for week how much trouble she was, how useless she was, how much easier it would be for anyone – the kidnappers or Nick – to just starve her to death.

"Kristy…Kristy, you're not trouble to me." Nick took a deep breath and sat up, patting the pillow next to him. Kristy shifted up, nestling into his side, and Nick wrapped an arm around her. "Okay, I'm gonna tell you a story, okay, a very true, very important story."

"Otay, Daddy…"

"A few years ago, the year before I met your mommy, I was kidnapped too."

Kristy looked up at her dad in shock. "You were, by the bad men?"

"A different bad man." Nick nodded. "He put me in a little box, underground. There were bity ants there…It was scary. I thought I was going to die."

"What happened?" Kristy asked, in awe and fear.

"The team found me." Nick replied. "And afterwards, I had nightmares, real bad nightmares, for months. Years. But they go away. They go away."

Kristy sighed, her eyes fluttering downwards.

"Kristy, what did they tell you, sweetie?" Nick asked.

"Daddy…" she squirmed uncomfortably. "Daddy, dey said…dey said…dey said dat you're not my daddy."

Nick's eyes widened. "What exactly did they say, Kristy?"

Kristy sniffled and started to cry. "Dey said my real daddy hurt my mommy and den dats why I here, I dust de ebidence ob de evil, and dat I gon' be ebil too, that I a debil kid and dat you only took me coz you pomised my mommy and dat I dust touble an' you don' really lob me an' an' an'-"

"Kristy!" Nick stopped her gently, his heart beating. He hadn't expected to have this conversation for at least another ten years. The bastards. "Kristy stop, it's okay, you're safe now. They can't tell you anymore."

"It tue, isn't it?" Kristy sobbed.

"No, no!" Nick said automatically.

"Dey called da man! My real daddy. He told me lots ob tings."

Nick swallowed. "Okay, Kristina. Listen to me, okay. A bad man did bad things to your mommy. That's true. And the word biological, you remember what it means?"

Kristy nodded.

"I'm not your biological dad, but I'm still your daddy, do you understand me? I love you more than anything else in this world. More than anything. Kristy, I would _die _for you. I love you Kristy, more than I could ever tell you." Nick paused to cup the little girl's face in his hands. "Kristina McBride Stokes, you are the most precious thing in the world. You are _not _evil, you're not a devil kid, you're perfect. You're perfect."

"No daddy, you no my daddy!" she sobbed, pushing away. "I debil child!"

"No, Kristy. Okay, listen. Do you love me?"

Kristy blinked. "What?"

"Do you love me, Kristy?" Nick repeated, almost frightened of the answer.

"Yes." She whispered back with tear filled eyes.

"Then you're not a devil child, because if devils do exist, which I don't think they do, they don't love. Kristy, you're still my daughter. Here." Nick opened his drawer and pulled out a photo frame. "I keep this in a frame to keep it safe. It's a very special piece of paper. It mean that officially you are my daughter. It's official, legal, Kristy, true. Do you understand?"

Kristy nodded, running her little fingers over the glass. "I your daughter?"

"Always." Nick nodded, kissing her on the top of the head. "God Kristy, I have never been so scared as I was when I thought you might not come home."

Nick wiped the tears away from his eyes.

"I sorry daddy."

"You have _nothing _to apologise for at all. Nothing. Apart from feeding Sammie _all _the dog treats."

"He was cazy." Kristy giggled quietly.

"He did." Nick couldn't help but chuckle. He hugged Kristy tightly. "Let's turn the light off and get some sleep, huh?"

"Daddy!" she protested, hugging onto him tightly.

When Sam nudged open Nick's door in the morning to try and wake up his owner he found Kristy asleep in Nick's arms.

He jumped up onto the bed and wormed his way in between the two, nuzzling and licking Nick's face to wake him up.

The scene was cute, but he was just a dog, and he needed to pee.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Hello, Eli." Resa Moore, Eli's child therapist, nodded in acknowledgement as Eli walked in with Grissom and Sara. "Grissom, Sara."

"Hi Resa." Eli replied, allowing her to lead him into the small room she used for their sessions.

Sara hadn't wanted to send Eli to a shrink, but the doctors had recommended it for all of the children, and Eli didn't seem to mind much, the one session that he'd been to.

"So, Eli, how are you doing?" Resa asked as they sat down.

"I'm doin' okay." He admitted with a child's honesty.

"Good, good." Resa smiled. "Have you had any nightmares?"

Eli nodded, his eyes flickering downwards.

"It's not something to be ashamed of, Eli. Can you tell me what happens in these nightmares? Is it the same one every time?"

He shrugged. "Mostly." When Resa didn't say anything else he sighed and continued. "I dream that… I dream that I'm back in the street and the men come back. The Martinez brothers. And they sh…sh…sh… and they shoot Sara and she dies and then they kill my mom, and they hurt me, over and over and they kill everybody…"

Resa passed him a tissue and a teddy as he started to cry. "It's okay, Eli, it's okay to be upset."

Eli nodded.

Only a half hour later, Eli left with Sara and Grissom for Kristy's birthday party at the zoo. Kristy was wordlessly excited, bouncing up and down and on the spot.

"Daddy, Daddy, dey here, dey here, dey're here!" she sang, spinning around and around.

"Whoa, there, cowgirl." Nick laughed, not letting go of her hand until she was mere meters from Sara, Grissom, Eli and Hank.

"Happy birthday!" the family chimed at once, hugging her each in turn.

"Here you go, Kristy." Grissom smiled, passing her a large bag.

"Thank you Gissom!" she gasped, plonking down on the floor to open her presents right there.

Nick rolled his eyes, lifting her up in her cross legged position.

"Daddy!"

"Later, Kristy, when we get to the picnic benches." Nick protested.

Kristy huffed, hanging onto the shopping bags with both hands as her dad picked her up.

"Hey Uncle Nick." Eli grinned.

"Hey kid." Nick grinned back. "How'd it go this morning?"

"Fine. Resa's nice."

"That's good. Kristy's scared about her appointment tomorrow."

Kristy stiffened. "I no going, daddy! I no going!"

"It's fine Kristy. Resa's really nice, and it's help, it's good."

Eli opened up his arms and hugged Kristy, whispering something in her ear.

"Daddy, I going now." She nodded.

Morgan and Finn were next to arrive.

"Happy birthday, Kristy!" Morgan grinned, giving her a big hug and a box. "I love your hair, who did it for you?"

"Daddy did." Kristy nodded, feeling around the package.

Finn, Morgan and Sara all raised their eyebrows.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Hey, her hair gettin' longer, now, I didn't want to be one of those dads who just scrapes his daughter hair back into a pony tail and that's it. My sisters all loved having their hair done as kids, so I called MJ and she recommended a YouTube channel to me cutegirlshairstyles, or something like that. So we had a little look, didn't we Kristy?" Kristy nodded and Nick continued. "Kristy picked this one."

They all stared at Kristy's braided hair.

"You have a gift, Nick." Finn remarked.

"I have five sisters." Nick corrected.

"Makes sense." Grissom grinned wryly.

Greg, Catherine, Lou and the twins arrived next, closely followed by Russell, Barbara, Maya and Katelyn. Maya and Katelyn had met the 'CSI kids' as they'd been dubbed by the other co-worker's families a couple of times and had agreed to come down to make it more of a party without overwhelming any of the kids with friends from day-care. However, Harry and Laura Riddle did turn up with Jamie, along with ten year old Casey and eleven year old Poppy.

Brass arrived next with Ellie and her little boy Chase. Al Robbins, Judy, Super Dave and his wife Susie all arrived in one car.

After them the lab techs all showed up – Hodges, Mandy, Henry, Bobby and Wendy (who still classed herself in the social group of the lab techs).

As they arrived and Kristy's eyes grew larger and larger at the pile of presents, they started to move onto a private train tour around the zoo.

After a full day of laughter, playing and games, the time came to leave the zoo. It had started raining halfway through the day, but no one really cared very much.

As per Kristy's request, Eli, Loeila and Reuben were sleeping over at Nick's for the night, and Finn and Henry had both agreed to help Nick supervise.

Catherine and Vartaan were out having a meal, so for the first time in a long time Greg sank down onto the sofa alone with a glass of merlot.

Greg's phone buzzed suddenly, and he picked up.

"Hello?"

_"Gre… Greg…" _

"Morgan?" Greg cried, getting up off of the sofa.

_"Hel…help Gre… 'lease…" _

"Morgan, what's going on? Where are you, Morgan?"

_"Apar…in my apar…men…'lease Greg come…"_

Greg raced to the door, dropping his full glass of merlot on the floor and grabbing his car keys, his cell phone, his radio and his badge and gun as he raced out of the door.

He flew down the stairs and leapt into his car, keeping the phone to his ear all the time.

"Okay, Morgan I'm on my way to your apartment now, okay? Are you hurt?"

_"Please come…" _her broken voice whispered.

"I am, Morgan, I'm on the way… Morgan, is there someone with you?"

_"You…firs' person…t'call…urry, p-p-please…" _

Greg's foot pushed further down on the gas and he swallowed. "Morgan, have you been attacked?"

There was a small but strangled sob. _"Greg…" _

_That's not like Morgan, that's not like Morgan…_ Greg thought in a panic, finally pulling into the parking lot of her apartment building.

He flashed his badge at the receptionist and raced up the stairs, before banging on the door of Morgan's apartment. To his horror it swung straight open, revealing a blood splatter on one of the walls and on the floor.

He drew his gun, listening out. There was a soft whimpering and heavy breathing coming from the back of the apartment. Greg drew his gun and looked in every room, finding nothing. Then he pushed open the door to Morgan's bedroom and swallowing.

Morgan's white bed sheets were ruffled and bloody, and the room empty. He moved into the bathroom, and there was no one there.

"Morgan?" he called. "Morgan?"

_"Greg…" _the reply whimpered.

"Morgan? Where are you?"

"_Un…der… bed…"_

Greg dropped to the floor on his stomach and almost threw up.

Morgan stared Greg with wide fearful eyes.

Her breathing was quick and shallow, and her hands were bound in front of her, her feet bound together. She was in ripped underwear, and god there was so much blood. Her phone lay inches from her face, and there was a small gash in her neck.

"Oh my god, Morgan!" Greg cried. "Oh, god… It's okay, Morgan, I'm here now, I'm here."

"Gr..eg…" she whispered, moving her hands a little.

Greg stretched out his arm and grabbed a hold of one of Morgan's hands as he started to talk desperately into his radio.

"…immediate medical assistance, repeat, _immediate _medical assistance."

_"Copy that, Charlie Oh Six Sanders, back up and EMTs are on the way, ETA seven minutes." _

Greg thought for a moment, before letting go of Morgan's hands. Morgan's eyes widened in fear.

"It's okay, Morgan, I'm not going anywhere." Greg assured her, running around the edge of the bed.

"Greg…"

"It's okay, Morgan, it's okay…" Greg crouched down next to the bed, slightly more aware of the… _though it pained him to even think it… _crime scene. "Morgan, we need to get you out from under the bed okay?"

Morgan nodded weakly and Greg's gentle hands landed on her shoulders. As she flinched, Greg paused.

"Morgan, I need to pull you out from under the bed, okay, is that okay?"

Morgan nodded again and Greg gently pulled her out. She looked up at him with frightened eyes and he stared at the plastic wires that had been used to bind her wrists. He grabbed a pocketknife from his back pocket.

"Morgan, I'm gonna try and cut the wires, okay, get you free, okay?" Greg nodded.

Morgan stared at the knife in terror but closed her eyes and nodded.

Greg quickly sliced through the bonds. "There, it's okay, it's over now. It's over now Morgan, whatever happened, I'm here now, I'm not going anywhere."

Morgan started to cry as Greg ripped off his jacket, pressing the sleeve against her bleeding neck.

After what seemed like an age the EMT's arrived, along with police back-up, Finn and DB.

"I'm going with her." Greg insisted to the EMT's and DB.

The EMT glanced at Finn. "Wouldn't a woman be-"

"He's going with her, just get her out of here, now!" Finn burst out.

DB and Finn stood in the middle of the hellish sight while the crime scene was secured.

"Why her? Why now?" Finn murmured into space.

"I have no idea." DB growled.

"I don't know how much more I can take…" Finn whispered, before uncharacteristically bursting into tears on DB's shoulder.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

He stared at his bloody hands in the waiting room.

_Why god? Why, why, why?_

"Mr Sanders?" a nurse asked quietly.

He looked up. It was the same nurse that he'd claimed to be engaged to Morgan to, when the twins were in hospital. "Yes?"

"I uh…I know that you and Ms Brody are only co-workers. But you have clearance to know about her position. She's stable…she's traumatised… Mr Sanders, I'm very sorry to tell you this, I can tell that you're very close, but…"

"But what?" Greg whispered.

"Your friend's been raped."

**I KNOW ITS DARK! NECESSARY FOR PLOT. I feel bad, I DO I DO I DO I DO I swear, but it's necessary for part of later plot! I'm sorry to the poor characters i am torturing :P**


	29. Chapter 29: You Found Me

**Quick update here, look at how fast I updated :P Deserves a review, huh! PLEASE REVIEW! **

**PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE!**

**For anyone who's read The Kids Aren't Alright, you may recognise Maddy Briggs, if not it's no problem. There isn't much of the kids in this one but there will be next.**

**I got 196 reviews. Is 200 too much to ask for?**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Twenty Nine # You Found Me #**

"Hello?"

_"Nick…it's Greg." _

"Oh, hey Greg. Look, Finn got called to a crime scene by Morgan's place, is everything-"

_"No, it's not… The crime scene _is _Morgan's place." _

Nick picked up on the hollow tones of Greg's voice. "Oh god, Greg what happened?"

_"I…I don't know yet. She called me, sounded…broken…she begged me to come… When I got there she was under the bed, she was practically naked there was blood everywhere…she's alive but…the nurse told me she'd been…she's been…" _

Nick's heart took a swan dive off of the Eifel Tower. "Oh god…Oh Jesus Christ…"

_"She's been raped, Nick, Morgan!" _

"What can I do?" Nick said quickly.

_"Look after the twins for a while? I'm at the hospital, they haven't let me see her yet." _

"Sure, sure." Nick nodded. "Anything else?"

_"I'll let you know?" _

"Copy that. Hey, do Sara and Gris know?"

_"Uh not yet, no, just me, you, Finn and DB, and I think Finn called Wendy who said she'd call the other techs. Russell's handling Ecklie." _

Sympathy swelling inside him for his younger friend, Nick sighed. "You want me to make that call, G?"

_"Thanks." _Greg sounded relieved. _"I don't know how many more calls I can take." _

"I hear you. What should we tell the kids?" Nick realised suddenly.

_"I was hoping that you'd have an idea." _

"Okay…" Nick ran a hand over his face. "Okay, I'll handle it. You hang on in there Greggo, we're gonna…we're gonna get through this, okay, Morgan's gonna be fine, I promise."

_"Bye Nick." _

Nick sighed sadly. "Yeah, bye Nick."

"Daddy?"

Nick turned, shocked. Kristy was leaning on the door frame, her blanket in her hand.

"What are you doin' up, Kristy?" Nick frowned, picking her up to carry her back into her room.

"I hadda go to da toilet. What's wong wid Aundie Morgan?"

"She…uh…she has an owie, she's at the hospital."

"Is she gone be okay?"

"Hey, she's gonna be _fine, _let's go back to bed, okay?"

"Fine." Kristy grumbled.

A short while later Nick took a single swig of beer before locking the can back in the fridge and dialling the phone.

_"Hey Nick." _

"Sara…" Nick paused. He had no idea how to continue.

_"Is everything okay, are the kids alright?" _

"No, everything's not okay, but the kids are all fine."

_"Then what happened?"_

"Finn got called to a crime scene at Morgan's place." He lowered his voice in case there were eavesdropping children. "Greg's at the hospital, he said Morgan called him, he went over, he said it's a mess. The doctor's said Morgan's been raped."

_"Wh-wh-what? Are you kidding me?" _

"Would I joke about something like this?"

_"No, no, Nick, no. Oh, Jesus!" _

"God, this is a nightmare."

_This must be a nightmare. _

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Sanders?"

Greg looked up at Maddy Briggs, the lead CSI on dayshift. "Briggs?"

"I heard about Brody, and I looked at the crime scene. Look, her case is identical to a serial killer and rapist that I've been trying to take down for six months."

Despite not liking where the conversation was headed, Greg remembered the case. "The Chimera? Wasn't that what he's called?"

"Yes."

"We're not going to give you this case-"

"I'm not asking you to. I want to share." Maddy replied just as frostily.

Greg started to raise his voice. "One of my best friends is lying in some room in this hospital-"

"And the bastard killed my cousin!" Maddy returned, and Greg's reply fell from his lips.

"Oh…Oh god, I'm sorry…I didn't know."

"We're keeping it quiet because Ecklie believes that I have enough professional composure to solve this case. You have no idea how lucky you are, how lucky she is, to be alive right now, all of the Chimera's other victims died. So I _know _how it feels to have someone you love to be hurt by this guy. So I want to share the case."

Greg nodded shakily. "You'll have to talk to Russell but that's fine with me."

"Good. I'll get your boss to fill you in, I'm sure you don't need to know right now…"

"No, please." Greg stopped her. "I won't be able to see Morgan for at least another hour. Please, I need to know."

Maddy sighed. "Let's sit down."

Greg sat next to her. "So what's this guy's MO?"

Maddy sighed again. "He picks his victims around town, stalks them for a while. They're mainly young blondes, twenties or thirties. And on a chosen night he follows her home. He knocks on the door, with some ruse to get inside. Once inside, he attacks."

Greg closed his eyes as images of Morgan trying to fight off a faceless stranger, blood flying over the wall like he saw when he walked into the apartment.

"He beats and rapes his victims, being certain not to touch their faces."

"Why is he called the Chimera?" Greg asked.

"Do you remember Todd Coombs?" Maddy asked.

Greg frowned. "Yeah…wasn't he the man that raped and murdered Lindley Parker, something like that? He had two sets of DNA. I think I was still in the lab then… They called him a Chimera because he'd had a fraternal twin in the womb but his cells had swallowed his brothers giving him two sets of DNA, right?"

"Exactly. Now, this Chimera is toying with us. In our first victim, Mariah Delgado, there were two sets of DNA in her rape kit, but one belonged to her boyfriend, Kyle Jenkins. He had an airtight alibi. The MO remained the same with the next four victims, the DNA from the boyfriend in the woman's system. They were all sperm donors; we think he used a foreign object to somehow get the semen into their systems."

Greg fought the instinct to bury his head in his hands. "Morgan doesn't have a boyfriend."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I am." Greg replied. "I am."

"Okay, then, that's a change in MO…"

"So what makes you so sure it's the Chimera?"

"Because he ties his victims with wire with a distinctive knot. And I've seen the knot he used."

"Mr Sanders? Ms Brody is awake now." A nurse announced. "A forensic nurse took pictures and samples already."

Greg leapt to his feet.

"I'll catch your boss up to date." Maddy nodded as Greg followed the nurse into another room.

Morgan was lying on the bed tied up to an ECG machine, an IV sticking in her arm, a nose cannula running across her face. Her eyes were open, she looked so small. There were bandages around her visible arm, but like Maddy said her face was untouched.

"Morgan…" Greg whispered.

"You came." She whispered back, holding out a shaking hand.

"Of course I came, Morgan. Of course I came." Greg replied, taking her hand and sitting by the side of her bed.

"He…he was wearing a mask."

"Morgan, you don't have to do this now." Greg protested softly.

"Greg, please. This isn't official…please."

Greg nodded. He didn't want to hear it. But she needed to say it.

"I opened the door because I'd called for a pizza. He had a pizza box, Greg. I thought he was the pizza guy." She shook her head, tears falling from her eyes. "I was so stupid."

"You couldn't have known." Greg protested.

She nodded. "He was wearing a red baseball cap, nothing distinctive. He was about six two…When I opened the door I...he put his hands around my neck, I tried to fight back, he covered my mouth. He fought, he hit. He hit hard, Greg and then he slammed the door shut and he dragged me to the bedroom. He held his knife to my throat and told me not to scream…"

Greg couldn't help but want to run away screaming, to yell at her that he didn't want to hear any more.

"Then he…" she started to cry, broken sobs and broken tears. "I never even saw his face, he could be anyone-"

"It's okay, he can't hurt you now, Morgan I'm not-"

"Greg, he said he was the Chimera, he was gonna kill me! Something stopped him from finishing it off, but he got real close, Greg and he's gonna come back-"

"No he's not, he's not going to hurt you anymore." Greg insisted.

The nurse walked into the room, gesturing to the heart monitor. "Sir, you're upsetting my patient, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"No!" Morgan cried, grabbing onto Greg's hand as her heartbeat flew through the roof. "No."

The nurse sighed. "Try not to distress her."

Morgan turned to Greg as she left. "Please don't leave me."

"They'll have to drag me out in handcuffs." He smiled wryly, rubbing little circles in his hand with his thumb. Then he leaned in a little. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Morgan."

She smiled a little at him. "Thanks."

"No problem, Morgan, it's no problem." Greg wiped his eyes.

"Don't cry, Greg, I can't take it!" she whispered.

He nodded. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry. We're gonna catch this guy, Morgan, I swear."

"We say that all the time." Morgan whispered.

"God, I swear, I will do everything I can."

Suddenly the door flew open and Ecklie walked in. "Morgan!"

"Dad!" she choked.

Greg started to stand up but Morgan's grip on his hand tightened and he sat back down.

As Ecklie hugged Morgan tightly he looked at Greg over her shoulder and mouthed "Thank you."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

She sent him home two days later for a shower and to get a spare change of clothes. The twins had visited Greg and Morgan in the hospital a couple of times but other than that Nick was looking after them and Kristy with Catherine and Vartaan.

Greg pushed open the door to his apartment and threw his coat over a chair. He meandered aimlessly through, his only goal to get back to the hospital. They hadn't caught Chimera, and he wasn't leaving her alone until they had. Finn was with her.

He got into the shower, turning the radio on for the hell of it. As the water fell over his aching body the words tumbled around in his mind and they made a hell of a lot of sense.

_"I found God  
On the corner of First and Amistad  
Where the west  
Was all but won  
All alone  
Smoking his last cigarette  
I said, "Where you been?"  
He said, "Ask anything"._

Where were you  
When everything was falling apart?  
All my days  
Were spent by the telephone  
That never rang  
And all I needed was a call  
That never came  
To the corner of First and Amistad

Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
You found me, you found me

In the end  
Everyone ends up alone  
Losing her  
The only one who's ever known  
Who I am  
Who I'm not, who I wanna be  
No way to know  
How long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
You found me, you found me

Early morning  
The city breaks  
I've been callin'  
For years and years and years and years  
And you never left me no messages  
Ya never send me no letters  
You got some kinda nerve  
Taking all I want

Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Lost and insecure  
You found me, you found me  
Lyin' on the floor  
Surrounded, surrounded  
Why'd you have to wait?  
Where were you? Where were you?  
Just a little late  
You found me, you found me  
Why'd you have to wait?  
To find me, to find me."

Greg rubbed a towel through his hair.

_So. God. Where were you? Where _are _you, everything is falling apart? _

God, the Fray had a point.

Greg got in the car and headed back to the hospital, but DB, Henry and Maddy intercepted him in the waiting room.

"We may have a lead." Maddy explained.

"May?" Greg asked.

"Have you ever donated sperm, Greg?" DB asked.

"Me?" Greg asked, taken aback. "No. Why?"

"We found your DNA in Morgan's system. Your sperm."

Greg frowned. "Wh-wh-what? I didn't, I've never-"

"You didn't have to. Chimera is one smart bastard. All he needed was a sample of your blood and a laser of a specific frequency." Henry announced quietly, though the waiting room was empty. "I found traces of hydrotriglycerin in Morgan's system; it's being used in stem cell research. You whack some blood with a laser and add the hydrotriglycerin and the white blood cells mutate, becoming stem cells when they divide. Then with the right hormones etc. you can make just about any cell in the body. This technology is very new, so not many people have access."

"You know, if that wasn't used for what it was used for that would be pretty awesome." Greg remarked.

"Tell me about it." Henry nodded.

Suddenly Greg felt sick. "Someone did that to Morgan with _my _sperm?"

"Unfortunately."

"But, I'm not her boyfriend… I thought that was the MO."

"The Chimera probably saw you as the next best thing." Maddy suggested.

"Have you told her?"

"Nope." Russell shook his head. "That's down to you."

"Excuse me." Greg said quickly. He ducked into the bathroom and threw up violently in the toilet, before slowly making his way to the mirror.

"Hey Greggo."

Greg jumped out of his skin, turning to look at Nick. "When did you get here?"

Nick glanced at his watch. "Two minutes ago. Russell told me about the whole DNA thing. I thought you could do with someone to lean on."

Greg shook his head. "Nick, I…it's like _I _raped her-"

"No it's not." Nick declared with great authority. "It's nothing like that, Greg, you had _nothing _to do with it."

"But-"

"No buts." Nick shook his head. "If he used your gun to shoot someone, would it have been your fault he pulled the trigger?"

"If I was careless with the gun-"

"Don't be a smart ass, Greg." Nick rolled his eyes. "We're gonna get through this."

"I'm sick of disasters." Greg moaned.

"Me too." Nick nodded. "Me too."

"How're the twins?" Greg asked quietly.

"They're missin' you but they understand that you need to be with Morgan. They think that she's sick, I couldn't bring myself to tell them that she'd been attacked, again."

Greg nodded. "I miss them too, but I…"

"I get it. This sick bastard is still out there, but we're getting closer. Oh, Lola asked me to give you this." Nick passed Greg a little picture. He could interpret Lola's scribblings as a man, a woman and two little kids. "She said this one's you, that one's Morgan and these two are Reuben and Loeila."

Greg smiled weakly at the picture. "She's gonna go into some form of art or drama one day."

"Tell me about it." Nick nodded. "She's been playing role playing games for the past four days and boy does she take the lead. I think she's roped Catherine and Lou into Princesses this morning."

Greg's smile grew a little.

"You know, I haven't seen Morgan since it happened. You wanna come with me, we can tell her about the leads together?"

"Together?" Greg shrugged. "Sure."

**Review? Who has a theory of what's happening next? **

**TELL ME PLEASE!**


	30. Chapter 30: Stupid, Stupid

**Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'm sorry this took so long but I'm really cutting down on procrastination while I have loads of coursework and essays, sorry :-( **

**Disclaimer – my knowledge of courtroom procedure = ZILCH! Forgive me! **

**Wow, thirty chapters! Lets see how many reviews we can get, shall we PPPPPPLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAAA AAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEE ?**

**Also wanna get this up quick so sorry if it's a pile of cow dung! **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty # Stupid, Stupid #**

"We have every single available tech on this, we're running every blood test known to Finn on the unidentified blood at the crime scene, and we're getting closer to catching this guy." DB assured Morgan and Greg. "But until then Morgan'll be staying with you, right Greg?"

"Yep." Greg nodded.

"I don't want to put the kids in danger..." Morgan said quietly, but Greg shook his head.

"It won't get to that." Shortly afterwards Greg opened the door to his apartment and froze.

"Oh my god..." He had expected the messy chaos he had left to but he never expected this. His apartment was spotless.

Toys in the toy box, shoes in the cupboard coffee in the coffee pot, not to mention the surfaces were shining.

"I think we got the wrong hou-"

"Welcome home, Daddy!" Loeila yelled, bypassing him to hug Morgan gently, before hugging him second.

Reuben, Lou and Catherine all followed her out of the spare bedroom.

"We cleaned up a little." Catherine confessed. "I hope you don't mind…"

"It was fun!" Reuben giggled.

Morgan and Greg just stared at Lou who sighed, pushing the long blonde wig out of his make-up covered eyes. "Reuben and I had a duel to see who had to be a princess. I lost."

Morgan laughed a little and Greg rolled his eyes as he hugged Reuben tightly.

For the next few days, the four of them stayed inside the house, whilst Catherine and Lou visited friends around Vegas.

"Aunie Mowgan?" Loeila asked as they coloured in with crayons.

"Uh huh?"

"One ob da giwls at daycawe says I a baby because I can' say my 'w' for 'wabbits' pwoply." Loelia sighed.

Morgan stopped colouring. "Really? Who said that?"

"Wachel did."

"Well Rachel is really silly then."

"Can you teach me? Peese?"

"Teach you what?" Morgan asked, shocked.

"Say my 'w' sound. Peese, Aunie Mowgan? I wan' say youw name pwoply." Loeila cried, dropping her crayons to hold onto Morgan's arms.

"Okay…" Morgan stuttered, wondering how to teach a lisping three year old how to day 'r'.

Ten minutes later, Greg walked in as Loeila screamed in delight.

"What's going on?"

"Daddy I can day my 'rrrs'!" she squealed. "Morrrrgan, Rrreuben, I can say it, I can say it! Daddy, Aunie Morgan taught me! Daddy, I can do it!"

Greg laughed as his daughter danced around his feet singing. "Rrrraindrrrrops on rrrroses and whiskerrrrs on kittens!"

"Well done, baby girl, well done!" Greg laughed, throwing her up in the air and spinning her around and around, before looking at Morgan. "How'd you do it?"

Morgan shrugged with a huge grin. "YouTube helped me, Lola did it all by herself!"

"That's so cool, Reubs, come see this!" Greg called.

Reuben's little footsteps could be heard running down the corridor and into the room.

"Hi Reuben!" Loeila called, and Reuben grinned.

"You can say it! You can say it!" Reuben cried, hugging her tightly.

"Dank you, Aunie Morgan!" Loeila smiled. "Can we go for a walk in da park?"

Morgan froze. She wasn't sure if she felt safe enough to leave the house. Then again, it wasn't good for her to stay inside. "Sure. Let's go."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah." Morgan nodded. She helped Loeila get her shoes on and they left the safety of Greg's apartment.

Greg smiled as Morgan ran around with the twins, completely forgetting about all of her fears, picking them up, tickling them and chasing them.

"Daddy, I need to go pee!" Reuben protested, and Greg sighed.

"You take him, there's a public toilet right there." Morgan smiled, picking Loeila up.

"You sure?" Greg asked.

"Daddy, pee!"

"Yeah, sure." Morgan grinned.

"Aunie Morgan, put me down, I wan' run!"

"Okay." Morgan put the small girl down.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

He watched from a distance when she put the little girl down. She was meant to die, but that _stupid _siren went off and he panicked, naively believing that she'd bleed out. But that bitch of a CSI was able to actually call her friend.

He was there to finish the job.

He walked towards her and she turned, freezing as if she recognised him.

He glanced at the small girl behind her, feeling almost guilty at what she was about to witness.

"Ms Brody, we have some unfinished business to do." He purred and Morgan froze, pushing Loeila behind her instantly.

"Greg!" she screamed as he brought out a knife. She thought she was going to be sick, as terror gripped her painfully. "Greg!"

He lunged towards her, knocking her frozen body to the floor and pushing away the toddler at the same time, not wanting to hurt her.

As Greg raced out of the bathroom he brought the knife towards her throat.

Blood spurted everywhere, red spraying them both.

He moaned, clutching his screaming skull as the tiny three year old girl hit him with the rock once more.

"Bad man! Bad man! Go! A! Way!" she screamed angrily.

Greg ran forward and pulled her off, trying to secure the man's hands behind his back. The man instantly snapped his elbow back, smashing it into Greg's face and scrambling to his feet, but Greg's foot connected with his groin once, twice, _four _times. Still on the floor, Greg swooped his other leg underneath the assailant, bringing him crashing to the floor.

He scrambled up and secured the man's hands behind his back and calling the police.

As two fuming cops dragged the man, identified as Arch Terry, into the back of their car.

"Morgan?" Loeila asked shakily as the blonde didn't react. "Did I do bad?"

Morgan burst into tears and Greg hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Morgan, it's okay. I promise, it's okay now, it's okay now. You did good, Lola… you did good."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"...the defence call Loeila Sanders as a witness." Carl Lupton, Terry's attorney declared, facing the courtroom. "I wonder if the jurors know that shortly around the time of his arrest, my client was beaten on the head, supposedly by a three year old girl."

As Loeila walked into the courtroom she smiled, waving wildly at the team of CSI's in the front row as she passed them en route to the stand.

"Now, can you tell us your name please?" Lupton asked.

"Low-ay-la Mar-ee Sand-ers." She smiled, annunciating each syllable.

"Okay Loeila. Do you understand what a lie is?"

"Uh huh. Its when you tell a fing dats not true." She nodded.

"So if I said I was the President, would that be a lie?" Lutpon asked with a gentle smile.

She paused. "Well… President ob what?"

The man refrained from rolling his eyes. "The United States."

"Oh, dat's a lie. But I hadda be sure coz my Papa Olaf is President ob da cheese club."

The courtroom tittered a little and Lupton forced a smile. "Okay. True or false, you have ten fingers."

"Lie!" she cried. "Liar! I hab eight fingers an' two thumbs. Uncle Nick already tricked me wib dat, you're too late! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!"

Forgetting respectful titters the whole courtroom laughed at the adorable child and even Lupton's mouth twitched.

"Okay, Loeila. I'm sorry. Now, in this room, you're not allowed to tell any lies, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled sweetly, trying to stay as still as possible in her denim dungarees.

"So a couple of weeks ago when Ms Brody was staying with you went for a walk, correct?"

"Wid Aunie Morgan." She nodded.

"Where did you go?"

"To da playground to play cowboys an' aliens." She replied truthfully.

"And what did you do in the park?"

"Played cowboys and aliens." She repeated. "Da cowboys and Indians team up to fight de aliens. It's fun. Coz I don' like cowboys and Indians fighting each oder, it's mean!"

"What happened when your brother and father went to the toilet?"

Loeila's little face darkened. "A scary man attacked Aunie Morgan."

"Really?"

"Yep. He said dat he had "unfished business"." She admitted.

"Do you mean unfinished business?"

She nodded. "Unfished. It gives me nightmares."

"I understand that it must have been very scary. Now this is very important, Loeila. Is it a lie that you hit him?"

She hung her head. "Daddy says not to hit."

"That's not what I asked."

"I hit him." She admitted miserably, having no idea that she was wrecking the defence's weak attempt at dirtying the cops.

"How many times?"

"Um…two or free, I fink." She started to play with her hair.

"Now, I want to believe you, Ms Sanders, but there was a lot of blood on the floor for just a little girl hitting him."

"I used da rock." She sighed. "I was scared an' angry."

"You're a very small girl, Ms Sanders, and I'm not sure you're strong enough to-"

"I _not _a liar!" she stomped her foot angrily. "I neber eber lied! Sept for da time when I told daddy dat Reuben spilled the juice but apart from dat I _neber _lie! Lying is wrong!"

"I would just like to point out for the record that Ms Sanders is a very young child and has potentially had her story manipulated by her father-"

"Objection!" Ava McPherson, the prosecuting attorney protested.

"No further questions." Lupton sat down and Ava stood up, smiling at Loeila.

"Hello Loeila."

"Hi." Loeila huffed crossing her arms, still riled about the accusation.

"Now earlier on you said that there were lots of bad men. What did you mean exactly by that?"

Loeila slowly unfolded her arms. "Um…a lil bit of time ago… da bad men stoled me an' Kristy an' Eli – dey my cousins – an' dey hurt us. Dey killed my biologicacal mommy as well an' dey made eberybody sad. I wan' da bad men to leabe us alone for a while."

"So you were scared that the man was going to hurt you and your Auntie Morgan?"

Loeila nodded adamantly. "He had knife! He was gonna hurt her, knifes hurt!" she pointed at the long scar on her cheek that was re-healing from where the Martinez brothers had re-opened it.

Several members of the jury shifted uncomfortably.

"Did your heart feel funny?"

Loeila looked down and prodded her chest. "It felt weird. Like it was going really, really fast like how fast da bumblebee's wings go!"

"That's good Loeila. Now, I have one more question. Did your daddy or any of the others hit the man after he was on the floor?"

"No. Daddy looked like he wan'ed to but he didn't. I promise." She insisted.

"Finally, do you see him in this courtroom today?"

Loeila's eyes scanned the room and she did a double take when she saw him in the front. Her dad had warned her that he would be here but it made her jump. "He's right dere. He's mean."

"Can I point out that Loeila Sanders pointed out the defendant? I have no further questions."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Did we win?" Loeila cried as the CSI's all fired into the break room, followed by the Sherriff and Ecklie.

"We won." Morgan nodded, hugging the little girl tightly. "Thanks to you, oh thank you!"

"Stupid, stupid!" Eli cried happily. Everyone stared at him in shock and Loeila scrambled down, dragging Morgan and Hodges into the middle of the break room.

"Nananananana!" Reuben replied.

They all started doing a victory dance around the break room.

_"You're stupid stupid  
You're stupid stupid  
You're stupid stupid  
And I love you!_

You're stupid stupid  
You're stupid stupid  
You're stupid stupid  
And I love you!"

Greg laughed. "You're stupid, stupid!"

_"We're stupid, stupid!_

_We're stupid, stupid!_

_We're stupid, stupid!_

_We're stupid, stupid!"_ Loeila, Kristy, Reuben and Eli returned. _"And I love you!" _

**Thought that song fit as a 8/3 year old's victory dance. Hope you enjoyed. Soz for mistakes, really tired but want to get this up tonight. Song is Stupid, Stupid, by Alex Day. **

**So, is the rapist storyline over? I know but what do you think? Who can guess what I have up my sleev /:)**


	31. Chapter 31: Hit The Floor

**Anyone there? Hello? **

**Well, if anyone is still interested in this story then I am VERY, VERY SORRY for not updating. I've had major stressful times, loads of homework and I'm a bit behind, so this has been written over a while. I hope this chapter is okay. I updated real quick before my mum turned off the internet so I hope there're no stupid mistakes. **

**Please review, it makes my world. **

**Chapter Thirty One # Hit The Floor #**

She screamed silently in agony as the burning pain seared her gut and forced its way out of her throat and mouth.

Morgan moaned and wiped her mouth, flushing the vomit away down the toilet. She'd had nausea on and off for the last month or so. She took a few seconds to wait for it to pass and then stood up, walking out of the bathroom and into the break room.

"Morgan? You look kinda pale, are you okay?" Greg frowned in concern. Three painful months had passed since the trial. Three and a half painful months since the attack.

No one had quite been the same since.

"I'm fine." Morgan smiled weakly.

Greg hugged her impulsively, and she hugged him back a little. "Don't lie to me."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "I've just been feeling a little…iffy. I'm good."

"If you're sure." Greg nodded.

Ten minutes later while processing evidence a cup of peanut butter from a crime scene with Nick, Morgan gagged suddenly, running to the nearest bin and vomiting.

"Whoa! Morgan, you okay?" Nick frowned in concern, dropping the evidence onto the table to rush to Morgan. He put a hand softly on her back. "Bathroom?"

Morgan put a hand over her mouth and nodded, and Nick steered her across the hall. She burst through the door and Nick waited in concern outside.

A few minutes later she came out, looking a little paler than before.

"What happened?" Nick asked in concern.

Morgan shrugged, confused. "Peanut butter…"

Nick's frown deepened. "Hang on, I thought Catherine said that you were eating peanut butter out of the jar when you two met in LA. _I'm _supposed to be the one who gags at peanut butter."

"I…I don't know, I'm just…I just…" Morgan leaned against the wall, looking on the verge of tears. "I don't know what's wrong with me, I-"

"Hey, hey…" Nick put a hand on her arm. "There's gonna be a logical explanation."

Morgan took a deep breath, steadying herself and nodding. "Okay…"

"So have you been feeling ill for a while?"

"On and off…about a month…It comes and it goes…"

"Morgan…don't take this the wrong way, but, have you gained any weight recently?" Nick asked hesitantly.

Glaring but working with her friend, Morgan nodded slowly. "Two or three pounds, but I've just been eating a load of crisps, I can't seem to stop."

"Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" Nick asked gently.

Morgan frowned. "No! I mean…it's not like… I haven't had…well, you know. Not since… And they gave me drugs in the hospital, to reduce the chances that…"

Nick nodded sympathetically. "I understand…but it would only reduce the chances, right?"

"Oh my god, this isn't happening…" Morgan moaned softly, feeling her abdomen.

"Hey, whatever happens, we're gonna be fine." Nick soothed.

Morgan nodded tearfully, hugging Nick tightly. "I don't know what to do."

"We'll do a test. We'll do three if it'll make you feel better."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"…so now I don't know what to do." Morgan finished, looking up at Sara over the coffee cup. "I'm pregnant, there's a fifty per cent chance it's Greg's, a fifty per cent chance of it being… Now I don't know…should I get an abortion or raise the baby or-"

Sara put a hand on Morgan's. "What do you _want _to do?"

Morgan stopped. "Wh-what?"

"What do you _want _to do? As absolutely cheesy as it sounds, follow your instincts, Morgan. And you don't have to make a decision right away."

"But if I am…pregnant…then I'll be what… fourteen weeks?"

Sensing Morgan's growing hysteria, Sara grasped her friend's hands in two of her own. "Hey, Morgan… it's going to be okay."

Morgan's shaking head dropped down to the table, and when she spoke her voice was stronger. "I hate this…Feeling vulnerable…weak. Not knowing what to do."

Sara nodded. "I felt a similar thing…after the uh, the Natalie Davis incident. It drove me out of Vegas, Morgan. Don't let him get to you from behind bars. You're stronger than I was, Morgan. And you're stronger than this bastard."

Morgan grinned wryly. "Thanks."

"No problem." Morgan looked at the clock. "Uh Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"Weren't you supposed to pick Eli up at ten past three?"

"What's the time?" Sara asked instantly.

"Ten to four." The two women leapt off of their chairs and raced to the school. It was ten past four by the time they jogged into the school.

Eli stood up off his chair in the small waiting room, a tired, irritated expression on his face.

"Oh, god, Eli, I'm sorry." Sara began.

"It's no big deal." Eli huffed, shuffling his bag around on his back and heading straight for the door.

"Eli." Morgan put her hands on his shoulders, stopping him still. "It was my fault. I needed to talk to Sara, and I made her lose track of time."

Eli just rolled his eyes to the corner of his head. "Can we go now, please?"

"Sure." Sara nodded, feeling guilty.

It had been arranged beforehand that Morgan would eat at Sara and Grissom's, so she took shotgun in the car whilst Eli slid into the back.

"So what did you do in school today?" Sara asked, steering the car out of the parking lot.

"Stuff."

Sara glanced at Morgan and the two women rolled their eyes.

Eli stared out of the window all of the way home, before running into the house without a word.

"Sorry." Morgan grinned sheepishly and Sara returned the look.

"He'll get over it."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Nick pulled up outside his house, running a couple of hands over his exhausted face as he did. He felt terrible for Morgan…more than terrible. It had also been two weeks since he'd spent the day with his daughter.

Nick unlocked the door and walked inside, uplifted at the delicious aroma of the recently returned Rosa's cooking. Kristy ran through the hall towards him in her pyjamas, the morning light streaming through the windows forming a halo around her head.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, peanut!" Nick laughed as she launched into his arms. "Hi Rosa."

"Your dinner/breakfast is ready, Nicky." Her melodic voice called from the kitchen.

"Daddy, will you spen' da day wib me today?" Kristy begged as he carried her into the kitchen.

_NO I'M GOING TO SLEEP! _The selfish part of Nick's brain screamed. "Sure thing, Kristy."

"Can we go to da swimmin' pool?"

"Sure." Nick nodded, stifling a yawn.

"Rosa, daddy said yes!" Kristy squealed in delight.

"¡Nicholas, te ves como un muerto viviente!" Rosa exclaimed.

"I know, I know." Nick murmured.

"¿_Puedes_ va a la piscina?" Rosa asked. Can_ you go to the pool?_

Kristy, understanding the gist of the conversation, looked up at her dad in worry. "Daddy? You too tired?"

_Yes. _"No, sweetie, no. I can take you to the pool." Nick nodded. "You comin' Rosa?"

"No, no." Rosa shook her head with a smile. "I have a lot to do here."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked. "Okay."

"Daddy, are you otay?" Kristy asked in concern.

"I'm _fine _Princess." Nick insisted, kissing the top of Kristy's head.

After scoffing down Rosa's delicious meal and grabbing all of Kristy's things, Nick got back in the car to drive to the pool.

As they entered the gym Nick downed a Red Bull.

Two hours later, Nick carried an excited Kristy out of the gym.

"Aw, Kristy!" Nick complained mildly as she shook her head like a dog and water sprayed in his face.

"Sorry daddy." She giggled. "Can we go get ice ceam?"

Nick considered for a moment. He hadn't treated her in three weeks. "Sure thing, Kristy."

"At the Tandias?"

"Okay, at the Tangiers." Nick agreed.

Shortly afterwards they entered the hotel and there were little girls everywhere in sparkly dresses and plastered with makeup.

"What the…" Nick's heart sank as he realised that he'd walked into the location of a child beauty pageant. "How about we go somewhere else?"

"No please Daddy!" she begged.

Unable to deny his daughter who he felt like he'd positively neglected for the past week, Nick nodded and sighed.

Once they got their ice cream, they started to walk around the room.

"Dese girls pretty." Kristy remarked, if a little wistfully.

"Not as pretty as you." Nick murmured to her with a big grin.

She smiled and held Nick's hand.

"Hang on to your ice cream, sweetie, that's it." Nick helped Kristy manoeuvre the ice cream cone to an easier position.

Just as Nick was wiping Kristy's hands with some napkins and water one of the girls started to scream. Instinctively Nick lifted Kristy onto his hip as the other children and some of the mothers also joined the terrified yells.

He walked towards the source of the screaming and looked at his stomach dropped. Kristy screamed and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing.

"It's okay, sweetie, it's okay." Nick soothed as he took in the bloodied body of a woman with a crown on, impaled on what looked like a meat hook. It looked like something out of the Texas chainsaw massacre, not something you should see at a child's beauty pageant.

Noticing the swarming people Nick leaned over to Kristy.

"Close your eyes sweetie, close your eyes real tight." He whispered, before raising his voice. "Hey, excuse me, ladies and gentleman I'm a crime scene investiagto-"

"She's dead!" one of the women screeched, instigating a wave of screams and sobs.

"I can see that ma'am." Nick nodded. "I can see that, can everyone please just calm down and step back, that's it…"

Kristy shuffled, keeping her eyes tightly closed as her father pulled out his mobile phone and started to call in what had happened. She tightened her arms around her father's neck and kept her eyes closed until he said it was safe.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"The victim was Mrs Marina Valentina, she was the director of the 'America's Little Angels' pageant up until fourteen hours ago when she was found murdered in the lobby of the Tangiers, the location of the pageant." DB told the Sherriff.

"And the guy Nick is about to interrogate is…?"

"Our best and currently only suspect – James O'Shea. His daughter Belle was lined up for the Ultimate Grand Supreme when she was kicked out of the pageant for some minor technicality. She's five. His prints were on the crown found on the victim, the same crown that was used to cut her throat, before she was shoved on a meat hook and displayed for all of the five to eighteen year old girls to see."

The Sherriff winced.

"And that's not all. James O'Shea is not his real name. He was born Elijah Roberts, and he is a convicted paedophile. A little plastic surgery here, a little wife and daughter there, and he's free to get into the pageant world. Apparently he's your 'ideal pageant dad'."

The Sherriff glanced at Russell's face. "From your tone I gather that you don't agree with child beauty pageants any more than I do?"

"No. I think that they teach little girls all the wrong morals, but it's not about my opinion." Russell sighed, nodding at the glass.

Nick sat down across from the man before him. "So, Mr O'Shea. Or should I call you Mr Roberts?"

The man shrugged, a small smile on his face. "I prefer O'Shea, if you don't mind. There's a bit more elegance to it. Why I changed."

"Oh, so it had nothing to do with the fact that you recently got out of a ten year sentence for possession of child pornography?"

Roberts shook his head with a smirk. "Not much."

"Okay Roberts. I can almost understand why a guy like you would be so fond of pageants. Little girls, prancing around in little outfits." Nick shook his head. "And when you and your daughter got kicked out, that would be why you got made enough to kill Marina Valentina."

"I didn't kill her." The man shook his head.

"We have your fingerprint on the murder weapon, Roberts."

"I didn't do it." Roberts leaned forward. "But you know, when I first saw you at the Tangiers…you had _such_ an adorable little girl with you."

Nick instantly stiffened, but Roberts continued.

"She would be amazing in a pageant. A little make-up, all dressed up… I'm not kidding, Mr Stokes. Kristina would be just incredible. A little winner."

"This isn't about her." Nick couldn't help but clench his teeth. _The bastard knew his daughters name…_

"No but if you are going to waste my time I may as well take a moment of yours to tell you that she could be a _star." _

"Shut up." Nick said in a surprisingly level voice.

"He's getting to him…" DB murmured outside, getting ready to go in.

_"_Especially in the swimsuit category, how I would _love _to see her prancing around in a little bikini…"

Nick stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. "Shut up, about my daughter." His eyes dropped at the movement of Roberts' hands.

_That bastard is getting off on the image of my three year old daughter, _Nick realised, and a blind fury took over his mind.

"You killed Marina Valentina, and I have proof and you are never, _ever _going to see my daughter's face again." He growled.

"I didn't hear one ounce of truth in that statement."

"Nick." Russell interrupted, walking into the room. "I'll take it from here."

Nick nodded stiffly, storming out of the room. Within minutes he was in the lab's empty break-room. For a split second he panicked, before pausing and hearing the reassuring sound of his little girl's voice.

"…an' den da mash-in goes brrrrrrr?"

"Yep. Then this tells you exactly what is in and liquid."

"Licid?"

"It means something like water or juice or oil."

"Wet stuff?"

"Pretty much."

"Hey Henry, hey monster." Nick announced his presence with a grateful smile to the Toxicology tech.

"Heny expaned da gas chomatogapy math spectrometer to me." She nodded. "I un-erstand."

"Good. You ready to go home sweetie?"

Kristy held out her arms to her father.

"Buy Heny!" she called.

Nick fell into bed for a few hours when they got home, asking Rosa to wake him up in a few hours.

When she did, he got ready for work and went in to kiss Kristy goodnight.

He froze.

There was blood in her bed.

Her empty, empty bed.

**Is it worth the wait? Or a review?**


	32. Chapter 32: Blakelynn

**Thank you for my reviews, they mean a lot to me :-) **

**Disclaimer: the next few chapters may look badly upon child beauty pageants. My personal opinion is that they are wrong, however it is just an opinion and I understand that many children seem to enjoy them. None of the characters I mention to do with pageants are based on real people. And for the record, I don't think that pageant directors deserve to be murdered :-)**

**I never do "I don't own CSI" disclaimers because I'm lazy and also because it's fairly obvious that I own nothing. If I owned anything then you would be watching this, not reading it.**

** oh my goshness - Thanks so much for pointing that out. I'm sooooo irritated about that, as I also study spanish. it was a stupid mistake. ANGRY! Not with you - thanks for pointing it out :) **

**I do, however morally own Kristy, Loeila, Reuben and Blakelynn. **

**Unfortunately I also own any mistakes. Sorry. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**

**Chapter Thirty Two # Blakelynn #**

"Kristy?" Nick called in a panic. "Kristina?"

"Yeah Daddy?" a sweet little voice called back.

"Oh thank God." Nick placed a hand over his heart like a little old lady as Kristy came out from the bathroom, with what looked like half of a roll of toilet paper pressed to her face. "You scared me!"

Kristy's little face fell. "I sorry, Daddy. I gotta bleedy nose, an' I didn' wanna wake you up 'cause you were really tired, an' I fought dat I could make it go way on my own."

Nick couldn't help but laugh in relief. "There's my good girl."

"Sorry I scareded you." She said solemnly.

Nick crossed over the room and scooped her up, kissing her on the cheek. "That's okay, beautiful. But you just wake me up if you need me, okay, I don't mind. It's my job to look after you, not the other way round."

She nodded. "I made a mess."

"You did. You know what, why don't you sleep in my bed tonight, we'll get you changed and I'll change the sheets when I get home. That sound good to you?"

Kristy nodded sleepily as Nick carried her through, explaining quickly to Rosa as he did so.

When he got to work half an hour later, bad news awaited him.

"We had to let Roberts walk for the murder. We got him for violating parole, but somehow the scumbag made bail."

"Damn it. How the hell did he walk?" Nick asked Russell.

"Two other pageant directors was found murdered in exactly the same way, we have ourselves a serial." DB said grimly.

"And Roberts was in our custody…but still, I mean it could be a cover up?" Nick offered weakly.

"The unidentified prints from the murder weapon were a match to prints found on the murder weapons from both other scenes. We're about to run down in the layout room."

"Alright." Nick nodded, following DB round the hall.

"…agree with Greg." Sara was saying as Nick and DB walked in.

"Agree what?" DB asked.

"I think that the perp may be comparing the women to butchers, with the meat hooks and the tiaras…" Greg repeated for DB and Nick's benefit.

"Nick, what do you think about pageants, for little girls? Would you put Kristy in one?" DB asked.

"Well I never really thought much about it before, but after Roberts said in interrogation that I should put Kristy into one I thought…well, I wouldn't. I never would, ever. Tanning and fake boobs and short dresses and heavy make-up don't belong on three year old girls, _especially_ not when there are perverts like Roberts around. No way in hell."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"You know, I think I've got the message." Morgan sighed, snapping pictures of the fifth murdered woman, hanging on a hook in the main bedroom of her hotel suite.

"I would have to agree." Brass walked up to Morgan and Greg grimly. "This time there was an eye witness."

"Who?" Greg frowned.

"Miss DuBois' two and a half year old daughter, Blakelynn." Brass' voice was close to a growl.

Morgan's eyes closed for a moment. "How much did she see?"

"I don't know yet, but from her reaction I would guess that she saw more than she should have." Brass sighed. "She won't talk to any of the officers; she won't let any of them near her."

"You want me to talk to her?" Morgan offered.

"Can't hurt." Brass nodded.

"See you in a minute." Morgan nodded at Greg, following Brass into the next bedroom.

A tiny little blond girl in a sparkly blue dress and a curly blonde hairpiece.

"When was the pageant, she's made-up to kingdom come?" Morgan whispered to Brass.

"It was due to start this morning."

Morgan crouched down in front of the tiny child. "Hi."

Blakelynn hugged her arms around herself, cringing away from Morgan.

"I'm Morgan. Are you Blakelynn?"

The little girl continued to cringe away.

"Hey, don't be scared." Morgan murmured. "I just wanna help you. You saw something really scary, huh?"

The little girl nodded a little, terrified.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Blakelynn shook her head violently.

"No one's gonna hurt you, Blakelynn. You can tell me, he's not here, he can't hurt you."

"Munta." The little girl whispered. "Fe munta hut mommy."

"I'm sorry sweetie. Did the munta see you?"

Blakelynn started to cry as she nodded.

Morgan's heart dropped. "Blakelynn, did he hurt you?"

"He toshed my hawr an' my face an' am." She cried.

"Did he touch you anywhere else?" Morgan asked. The little girl shook her head. "Was this before or after he hurt your mommy?"

"Ater."

"Okay."

"What you do?"

"I am a crime scene investigator, I find little tiny bits of tiny to help me catch bad guys and put them in prison so they don't hurt anybody anymore." Morgan smiled weakly.

"You fine who hut mommy?"

"If you let me. This is my kit, it's very special, see. And this is called a swab."

"I use dose for maya."

"You use them for make-up?" Morgan validated.

Blakelynn nodded.

"I use it for my work. One of the things I use it for is taking DNA samples."

"Dee-an-ay?"

"Uh huh. Everyone has their own. Can I take yours?"

"Wiw I get id back?" she asked cautiously.

Morgan laughed. "I won't take it all. I don't need to. Shall I show you on me?"

Blakelynn nodded, and Morgan swabbed the inside of her own mouth.

"See?"

Blakelynn held out her hand and Morgan passed her a swab. Blakelynn stared at it for a moment, before warily swabbing her own mouth, passing the swab to Morgan.

"Well done, you're good at this." Morgan smiled, causing Blakelynn to smile a little. "Can I see if the munta left anything on your arm or face?"

Blakelynn nodded a little less hesitantly.

"I'm just gonna use these swabs on your arm and your face, there we go. All done." Morgan grinned at Blakelynn, whose grin grew. "And now this is my special comb. It'll find anything in your hair that the man left behind."

"Waid!" Blakelynn held her hands out in front of her face. "Can you tay my haiw-pee off firwst? You can kee' it, I no wan' it."

"Oh, okay." Morgan blinked. "I'm not really sure how to?"

"Peese no rip it!" Blakelynn begged.

"I won't, I won't hurt you." Morgan soothed. "I'm just gonna take these pins out, there we go."

She carefully lifted the hairpiece off of the little girls head, placing it in an evidence bag.

"Can I comb your hair?"

Blakelynn nodded. "Can I coe youws firs'?"

"Okay." Morgan pulled her own hairbrush out of her bag, passing it to the little girl.

With impressive delicacy and skill she took the brush to Morgan's head and combed out the few tangles in her hair.

"My go." Morgan smiled, combing flakes of evidence out of her hair. "You have beautiful hair."

"No I don'. Das why I nee' to hab da haiw-pee." Blakelynn's head dropped.

"Hey, that's not true. Who told you that?" Morgan frowned.

"Mommy says I has weaw da haiw pee to may me look pwetty."

"That doesn't mean that you're not gorgeous without it."

Blakelynn smiled weakly. "Das a lot ob tuff in youw kit."

"Uh huh. You wanna see what something else does?" Morgan offered.

The toddler nodded. "Wha' does dat one do?"

"Ah, good choice. Have you ever done finger painting?" Morgan asked as Blakelynn pointed at the fingerprint power.

"One oh to ties."

"Well, put you hand on this piece of paper?" Morgan instructed.

Instantly the blonde child obeyed, placing both hands on the paper and pressing down before she removed them. "Good?"

"Very." Morgan nodded. "Now, watch this."

Blakelynn's brown eyes widened as the brush twirled over the paper, revealing her little prints. "Wow…"

"Cool, huh?" Morgan grinned.

"Do you do payants?"

"No, I don't do pageants." Morgan shook her head.

"Bud you'we pwetty."

"Thanks." Morgan smiled. "Do you have a spare change of clothes with you, sweetie, I'm gonna have to take your dress."

"I done know, my mommy has dem."

"Okay, you hold tight one sec, I'll get you some clothes."

"No!" Blakelynn cried. "Peese day!"

"Okay." Morgan nodded, her eyes widening. She turned and called over her shoulder. "Yo, Moreno!"

The detective looked up. "Yeah?"

"In the back of my SUV there's a pink carrier bag, can you grab them for me?"

"Sure." Moreno nodded.

A few days before Morgan had spilt her coffee on Loeila's beloved pink pyjamas, so she'd promised to buy her the monkey onesie that she fell in love with while window shopping a few days ago. It was complete with a tail and a hood with ears. She could always buy Lola another one.

When Moreno passed her the bag she looked up at him. "Is it okay if I take her to the bathroom to get changed and get some of this make-up off?"

"Sure." Moreno nodded.

"Let's go get changed, Blakelynn." She held out her hand and the little girl took it.

"Peese you call me Blake?"

"Sure, Blake." Morgan smiled, leading her into the en suite bathroom. She took the dress off, carefully placing it in a bag and helped the toddler into the onesie.

"I has eaws!" the toddler smiled, feeling the soft fabric.

"You like it?"

The eager nod melted Morgan's heart.

"You can keep it."

"Reawy?"

Morgan nodded.

"Fank you!"

"Now, what have we got in here…" Morgan photographed the clean counter and then lifted the girl onto it. "Shall we get some of this make-up off?"

"May I tay my eyes off an' my fipper ow'?"

"Of course, here, out them in this bag and then you won't lose them." Morgan offered as Blakelynn gratefully ripped the fake lashes and took the fake teeth out of her mouth.

_This stuff does not belong on a two year old…_Morgan thought as the little girl dropped them into the evidence bag.

Morgan photographed a packet of make-up removal wipes. "Do you use those?"

The toddler nodded. "Uh huh."

"Here we go." Morgan smiled, gently wiping the little girl's face. Four wipes later, all the make-up was gone. "Gorgeous."

Blakelynn dropped her head once more.

"Hey, Blake. I think you're really pretty. You don't need this make-up, this tan. You're a beautiful girl. And I don't ever lie."

Blake smiled gratefully and held out her arms, stifling a yawn.

Morgan picked up the little girl and carried her back into the bedroom.

"Just in time." Moreno smiled at them. "Morgan, this is Alexis Deaver, child services."

"Hi. This is Blake. Blake, you gotta go with Alexis now-"

"No!" Blakelynn cried. "No, peese! I don' wan' go, wan' day wib Mowgan!"

"I'm sorry, Blake, but it's the rules." Morgan said sympathetically. "I'll be back later with my friend Jim to talk to you."

"NO!" the toddler screamed, latching onto Morgan and sobbing into her jacket. "No, no, no, no!"

Alexis regretfully pulled her away.

"I'll come visit you real soon, sweetie, I promise." She nodded. "Alexis will take good care of you."

She shuddered at the young girl's cries as they took her away. She walked out to Greg and shook her head.

"Is the kid okay?" Greg asked in concern.

"Physically I think she's fine." Morgan nodded.

Only half an hour later her phone rung.

"Hello?"

_"Ms Brody, it's Alexis Deaver from child services. I was wondering if you would come down here, Blakelynn is… well she's not stopped crying and our psychologist thinks that it would be beneficial for someone she trusts to see her, would you mind coming down?" _

"No, not at all." Morgan shook her head. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

_"Great, thank you." _

"Bye."

"Who was that?" Greg asked curiously.

"Child services. Apparently Blakelynn DuBois is more than a little traumatised and they want me to go see if I can get her to calm down. Cover for me?"

"Sure." Greg grinned. "No problem."

"What's the problem?" Morgan asked ten minutes later Alexis met her at the entrance of the child services building.

"She's become almost hysterical, she won't respond to anything we say. It happens and normally we call family, but none are listed yet for her, so I called you."

"Okay." Morgan nodded.

"She's just in here." Alexis opened the door.

"Hi Blake." Morgan announced her arrival.

Instantly the child's screams that had filled the room stuttered to a stop.

"Mowgan?"

"Yeah, it's me sweetie. What's wrong?"

Blakelynn leapt off of the sofa and bounced into Morgan's arms. "My mommy dead."

Morgan swallowed. "Yeah…yeah she is. I'm sorry."

The little girl snuggled against her neck, reminding her so much of Lola or Kristy.

"Day. Day wib me peese."

"Okay…" Morgan nodded. "I'll stay with you."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Grissom?" Eli asked, leaning on the back of the couch.

Grissom jumped, muting the entomology program he was watching on TV. "Eli. What are you doing up, it's five am?"

"You're up." Eli retorted defensively.

"I don't have school in three and a half hours time." Grissom returned. "What's wrong?"

Eli walked around the couch and climbed onto it, leaning against Grissom. "I woke up and I can't get back to sleep. I've been thinking…Why don't you have any kids?"

Grissom frowned. "Of my own?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, by the time I fell in love with Sara I was too old, really. There was too much chance of genetic mutations, and that's without my old hearing problems. Not to mention I already have a family, one I created on my own."

"The CSI family."

"That's right."

"Sara told me once that you were like the dad, and then Auntie Catherine was the mum, and that she, my dad, Uncle Nick and Uncle Greg were all like the kids. Did you think of them as your kids? I mean, not Sara, but the others…my dad, Uncle Nick, Uncle Greg?"

Grissom raised his eyebrows. "Well, I never really thought about it like that, but I guess you could say that in a way, I love them like my kids."

"And so do you love me like your kid or your grandkid?"

Grissom frowned as he considered. "I've honestly never really thought about it that much. I guess a bit of both."

"But you do love me, right?" Eli flashed Grissom a smile.

Grissom smiled back. "Very much."

**So, theories peeps? What do you think of Blake, and how important do you think she should/will be? **

**I'm sorry for the lack of twins, and really Kristy and Eli in this chappy as well, I'll make up for it later. However, I am backlogged with work, so I hope you're all grateful at how quick I updated :-)**


	33. Chapter 33: Rollercoaster Therapy

**Hola! Quickie today, hope you enjoy. Plot will move on a little soon, this is just a taster coz you probably won't get much for a little while as I'm mega busy. All the usual, mistakes are mine, blah, blah, blah. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty Three # Rollercoaster Therapy #**

"Hello, Miss Blakelynn."

Blake flinched as Brass sat down in the chair opposite of her.

"It's okay." Morgan smiled, rubbing the arm of the little girl on her lap. "This is Jim, he's my friend. The one I told you was coming. Jim, this is Blake."

"Blake. It's nice to meet you." Jim held out his hand and shook the nervous little girls hand gently.

"Nie to mee' you too." She returned in a whisper.

"So Blake, you told Morgan that the munta hurt your mom. Can you tell me what the munta looks like?"

"He was weally big. An' hadda woof's head."

"A woof's head?" Brass frowned. "Like a dog's head."

Blake turned to look up at Morgan. "No, a woof's head."

"A wolf's head?" Morgan asked, and Blake nodded.

"Oh, a Wolf's head." Brass nodded. "What was he wearing?"

"A blue one-ee wib no hood an' a wed pots."

"A blue onesie with no hood and red spots." Brass repeated. "How big were the spots?"

Blake looked up at Morgan, who nodded encouragingly. "See-kin sie."

Brass frowned and Morgan elaborated. "Sequin sized, right?"

Blake nodded and put her thumb in her mouth.

"So do you think you can tell me exactly what you saw?" Brass asked.

Blake's other hand curled around Morgan's and her thumb left her mouth. "Mommy wad in da bedoom…"

_"And remember Blakelynn, personality. Flirt with the judges, give them attitude. There is no prize for being the director's daughter. Put your flipper in, you need to be beautiful." _

_"I done wan' ta whewe id!" Blakelynn stuck her bottom lip out, jumping up and down on the bed._

_"Don't you _dare _argue with me, Blakelynn Rose! You need to be pretty. And to be pretty, you need your flipper, now put it in. Show me your routine." _

_"Mommy, I'm tired." She whined. _

_"Blakelynn! Practise." _

_Blakelynn sighed and started to prance around the room. _

_"Stop, stop. More flirting."_

_There was a knock on the door. _

_"Keep practising!" her mom snapped, going to answer the door. _

_Blake made pretty hands and pretty feet. _

_Suddenly her mom screamed loudly. Blakelynn froze as her mom was pushed backwards. _

_"Don't kill me!" The woman screamed, but the monster with the wolf's head slashed her throat with a crown. _

_Blakelynn froze, too scared to even scream, as her mom fell to the floor, blood flying everywhere. The monster looked at her and dragged her mom into the next bedroom. _

_Blakelynn turned and ran and hid in the closet, but as the wolf monster came back into the room he found her straight away. He pulled open the door and pulled her out gently by her arm. He stroked her hair with a furry paw, and then cupped her face in his hands. _

_"It's okay now. I saved you." _

"He spoke to you?" Morgan asked the tearful toddler.

Blake nodded. "Uh huh. He saided dat he sabed me."

Brass shook his head, watching the tell-tale tremble of the girl's lip. Tears were coming. "So Blake, what do you like to do? Do you like pageants?"

Blake looked up at Morgan, then looked down to the floor. "Mommy did lie dem."

Brass leaned forward passively. "Yes, but do you like them?"

Blake squirmed.

"Hey, Blake, it's okay. Just tell the truth. You don't need to be scared at all."

"I done weally lie dem. I done fink dey're fun…" she admitted, looking extremely ashamed.

"Hey," Morgan shifted Blake to look at her face better. "You don't have to like pageants. You can hate them if you want. It's okay."

Blake smiled a little shyly. "Weally?"

Morgan smiled to cover up her anger at Blakelynn's mom. "Really."

Brass smiled. "Blake, can I talk to Morgan alone for a moment, please?"

"No!" Blake shook her head, holding onto Morgan tightly.

"Please Blake, I promise I'll be right outside that window, I'll be able to see you and you can see me-"

"No!" Blakelynn started to cry.

"Hey, Blake I need to talk to Jim. Please?"

"Taw hewe?" Blake protested weakly.

"I need to talk to Morgan about big people stuff." Brass said sympathetically.

Reluctantly, Blake allowed Morgan to leave her on the sofa whilst Brass, Morgan and Alexis, who had been standing in the corner, left the room.

"I haven't been able to track down any family." Alexis sighed.

"I talked to the father registered on the birth certificate. Claims he never even slept with Ms Lacey DuBois, and that she was an old friend with whom he'd had a falling out a few years ago. We took DNA, but he looked shocked when I told him that she was registered as her father."

"What's going to happen to her?" Morgan asked, looking at the tiny girl who stared back through the glass.

Alexis sighed. "Her mother's will is more interested in where her company and possessions go as to where her kid's going. She'll be put into the foster system in two days."

Morgan glanced back through the glass.

"Morgan…you okay?" Brass asked.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." Morgan sighed. "She's going to live with strangers?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Alexis nodded. "But I can guarantee that they'll be decent people."

"Decent?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, I can't say that every foster parent will be perfect, there just aren't enough foster parents. What I can guarantee is that they won' be dangerous or neglectful." Alexis nodded.

Morgan sighed.

"Morgan," Brass caught her attention. "Morgan, it happens to more children than we can help."

"I know." Morgan said, not meeting his eyes.

"Morgan." Brass warned. "You're getting attached to this kid."

Morgan looked at Brass, wanting to deny it. "I guess I am."

"That's dangerous."

"I know… I'll stay with her today." Morgan nodded. "She needs a friend."

"That's a…" Brass rolled his eyes as Morgan slipped back into the room. "…bad idea."

"I think it'd be good for Blakelynn." Alexis defended the other woman.

"Oh, I agree, definitely. But, uh…it won't be good for Morgan."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Eli, wake up, you've gotta go to school." Grissom called, gathering cereals for breakfast.

When Eli still hadn't stirred five minutes later he frowned. "Eli?"

He walked into Eli's bedroom. "Eli. Wake up."

"Go away!" Eli moaned, covering his head with his pillow.

Grissom frowned. "Excuse me?"

Eli's eyes poked over the pillow. "I don't wanna go to school!"

"I told you that would happen when you woke up at five-"

"Not because I'm tired!" Eli growled.

"Then why don't you want to go to school?"

Eli sat up and glared at Grissom. "You said you love me. Do you love me coz I'm me, or do you love me because I'm like my dad?"

Grissom blinked, stunned. "What?"

"If someone tried to take me away would you fight for me?"

"Of course-"

"But would you fight for me for me, or because I'm my Dad's son?" Eli demanded.

Grissom took off his glasses. "Eli, what is this about?"

Eli rolled his eyes. "I shoulda known. Coz I mean, my own _dad _didn't fight for me, why-"

"What did you just say?" Grissom whispered. "Why would you think that, Eli?"

Eli folded his arms. "I know that he didn't even bother telling anyone about me. I know that Sara and Greg found records."

"Of a custody battle." Grissom frowned.

"Yeah, but if he really loved me, he woulda told you-"

"I have to show you something." Grissom whispered, taking Eli by the arm and leading him gently but firmly into the master bedroom. He lifted him onto the bed and took a box out of the cabinet. Eli watched Grissom unlock the box and stick a DVD into the player.

Eli's mouth dropped open a tiny bit as his father came onto the screen. A woman was talking.

_"So what makes you think that you'd be a good father? You were raised by your grandmother. You never even knew your biological father." _

_Warrick nodded. "Which is exactly why Eli needs to know his. Look, the most important thing you need to know about how to raise a child is how give a child love, and I've been loved. Listen, I've always tried to be a good man, and I've screwed up. And when I have there's always been one man in my life to set me straight. I've learned a lot from him, how to be fair, how to forgive, how to be inspired, how to inspire others._

_"Sounds like a special person."_

_Warrick nodded again. "He is. If I could've picked my own father, I'da picked him."_

Eli stared at the screen even as it went black. "He…he wanted to know me?"

Grissom nodded, barely noticing the tear trailing down his cheek. "Very much."

"Do you ever wish that he lived and I didn' exist?" Eli looked up at Grissom, who looked horrified.

"No. I often wish that he didn't die. But when I imagine him still alive I imagine you living with him. You would have loved him, Eli. He loved you."

"People don't want me." Eli whispered, tears trailing down his cheeks. "You all want _him." _

Grissom shook his head. "You're not your dad, Eli."

"Exactly." Eli cried.

"Eli, I wouldn't…I…" Grissom shook his head. He'd never been particularly good at expressing his feelings. "I don't want your _or _your dad… Being honest, I want you both, but that's not possible. Eli, I love _you. _And…if losing your dad and your mom brought you here…then at least one enormous, amazing, _special_ thing came out of all of the pain."

Eli jumped off of the bed and ran into Grissom, hugging him tightly.

"I wish I'd known him." His whisper was punctuated with sobs.

"Me too." Grissom whispered, hugging Eli back tightly. He picked the child up, ignoring his back's nagging, and picked up the phone. "Hello, is this is Gil Grissom, I'm the legal guardian of Eli Brown. Eli isn't feeling too good today, so he won't be coming to school today."

Eli looked up at Grissom, confused.

"Okay, thank you. Goodbye."

"What…?"

"We're going to have a day off." Grissom told him.

"You lied to my teachers?"

"No. Technically, you're not feeling well. You're sad. But don't try and use that one on me later."

A faint grin traced Eli's lips.

"Get dressed, we're leaving in five minutes."

"What about breakfast?" Eli frowned.

"We'll get some on the way." Grissom waved away Eli's concerns. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?" Eli asked, confused.

"It's a surprise."

"Then what should I where?"

"Jeans and a t-shirt. Don't forget a jumper. Sneakers'll do."

By the time Eli opened his mouth, Grissom was already getting dressed. Confused, the boy changed into his jeans and his favourite top, a "Keep Calm and Read Harry Potter" shirt, and pulled a hoody over the top.

"You ready?" Grissom asked five minutes later.

"I guess, but-"

"Come on then, let's go." Grissom took Eli's hand and led him out of the door. They got into Grissom's car and Eli watched Grissom's route carefully.

They stopped at a diner for breakfast, before finally arriving at…

"An amusement park?" Eli frowned.

"Yep." Grissom nodded. "We sure are. This is what I do when I get upset, or angry. I used to do it a lot when I was at CSI. I used to think of it as 'Rollercoaster Therapy.'" He had personally wanted to bring Eli to one sooner, but Sara got called into work the first three times they tried, so they decided to stop trying until Eli was older.

Eli stared up at the rides, the stalls and the games. "Wow…"

Grissom's eyes shone as Eli took in his surroundings. "What do you want to do first?"

"Bumper cars!" Eli grinned.

"Okay, off to the bumper cars." Grissom nodded.

Eli wrenched the wheel of the bumper car and span around, whooping as he smashed into the back of Grissom's car.

"Oh, you wanna play like that huh?" Grissom yelled, smiling, and rammed Eli's car against the wall.

When their slot ended ten minutes later, Eli felt electrified.

"Can we do a rollercoaster?"

"Sure." Grissom nodded. "Which one?"

"That one!" Eli pointed at the biggest one in the park.

"Have you ever been on a rollercoaster before?"

"Nope."

"Then we should start small." Grissom decided, taking him to a slightly less intimidating one.

Five rollercoasters and four arcade games later, Eli and Grissom decided that it was time for lunch.

As he munched away on his corndog, an unsettling thought made Eli's stomach churn. "Uh, Grissom? What if my teachers find out I'm here?"

"I'm not worried about the teachers finding out we're here." Grissom said, taking a bite of his own hotdog.

"Who are you worried about finding out we're here?" Eli asked.

"Take a guess." Grissom raised an eyebrow and they grinned at each other, speaking in unison.

"Sara."

**Hope that was okay. I didn't want to write Griss too mushy but I thought looking after Eli may mellow him a little where it comes to the expression of feelings :-)**

**Please tell me HOW TO IMPROVE! I want to know to give you guys the best :)**

**Review my minions :)**


	34. Chapter 34: Hit the Floor

**Hey guys. Sorry about the delay. My exam results aren't too great so updates will still be slow, sorry. Anyways, remember that things in this story genuinely happen for a reason, so random bits in this chappy may actually add up to something. Drop a review and tell me where you think its going? :) **

**Also, the title of this chapter is slightly foreshadowy if you know the song it is, so feel free to take a guess at where that's going too! **

**Soz for any mistakes! **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty Four # Hit The Floor # **

He took the piece of paper off of the printer and held it out to her. "Are you ready?"

Morgan took a deep breath. "I have to be."

Hodges put his hands in his pockets and tried to read the expression her face. "Well?"

"I was right." She whispered. "I…I'm pregnant."

Hodges swallowed, not knowing whether to tell his friend "Congratulations" or "I'm sorry."

"There's a…baby inside me!"

"Technically it's a foetus." Hodges smiled a little, and she glared at him a little playfully. "How do you feel?"

Morgan frowned. "I'm not really sure… I mean, this is gonna change my life, Hodges!"

"Only if you want it to." Hodges insisted.

"Are you saying I should get an abortion?" Morgan raised an eyebrow with a little anger.

"No." Hodges shook his head. "What I'm saying is you should do whatever makes you comfortable."

Morgan half smiled. "Thanks."

"Does Greg know?"

"No." Morgan replied.

"There's a fifty per cent chance that it's his…"

"I know!" Morgan snapped.

"Sorry." Hodges held up his hands.

"Sorry." Moran admitted herself. She sighed, staring at the blood test. "Thanks, Hodges."

"Anytime." He nodded as she left. "Wait, Morgan!"

She turned. "Yeah?"

"You know that we're all here for you. Whatever happens." Hodges said, smiling awkwardly.

"Thanks, Hodges." Morgan smiled, turning out of his lab. She headed straight to the bathroom and washed her face.

As she closed her eyes tightly she heard someone pause as they came out of the cubicle behind her.

"Uh, Morgan?"

Morgan jumped at Greg's voice. "Oh god, am I in the…?"

"Guys bathroom? Yeah…" Greg asked, washing his hands. "Are you okay?"

"Yea…well. I don't really know. This is embarrassing." She felt her cheeks glow pink.

"Don't worry about it, Catherine walked in on Warrick in the ladies' before. What's wrong?"

Morgan let out a long breath. "It's uh…complicated."

"Y'know, shift ends in…well it ended two minutes ago. You wanna go out for coffee, talk about it?"

Morgan considered for a moment. "Okay, sure."

Ten minutes later they sat down at a table in the nearest Starbucks.

"So. What's wrong? Is it that thing with Blakelynn?"

Morgan sighed. "A little bit, I guess. She got put into a foster home today. They seem like good people, she seems like she's settling."

"That's good, right?" Greg asked.

"Yeah…" _Tell him, tell him, tell him…._

_No, no, no!_

_You were starting a relationship with him before…_

_Yeah well it's still weird…_

"Morgan?"

"Greg I have to tell you something."

"Shoot." Greg shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee.

_God, he looks so oblivious. _"I'm pregnant."

Greg blinked. "Are you kidding?"

"No. I got Hodges to do a blood test, I'm positive. And it's either yours, or…"

"Arch Terry's…" Greg finished for her.

"Yeah." She whispered, tears in her eyes. "Greg, I'm sorry."

"Why?" Greg frowned. "Morgan, none of this is your fault."

"I know that. It's not my fault. But what happened to me could have a massive impact on your life."

Greg took a deep breath. "Morgan, I'll look after you."

She smiled a little. "But what if it's not yours?"

"Then I'll still look after you."

Morgan's smile automatically widened. "Really?"

"Don't look so surprised. You _are_ my friend." Greg said, blushing a little himself.

Without realising, they both flashed back to the day the Sherriff's car blew up, a few days before Kristy was abducted.

The day they kissed.

Morgan sighed softly. _I wish it happened…_

"Wish what had happened?" Greg asked.

"Did I say that out loud?" Morgan blinked.

Greg couldn't help but laugh a little. "You really are out of it today."

She laughed. "I guess. I was just thinking about the uh…well I guess you could say the date we had."

"And then Reuben said he wanted us to get married." Greg recalled.

"I almost forgot that." Morgan half laughed.

Greg smiled. "I'll look after you Morgan. And I'll look after your – our – baby."

"What if it's not yours?"

Greg didn't even hesitate. "Then I'll look after you _and _the baby."

Morgan smiled again. "Thanks, Greg. I appreciate the help."

"Do you wanna come back to mine? The twins've been asking when you're coming over."

"I was gonna go and see Blake, but okay. I haven't seen them in ages." Morgan decided, getting up.

"Great." Greg grinned.

"Hang on, I have a gift for Loeila at my place."

After stopping at Morgan's, Greg paused at the door of his apartment with a frown.

"What?" Morgan asked.

Greg's face lit up with understanding. "Cars."

"What?" Morgan repeated as Greg pushed open the door.

"I'm home!"

"Vroooooom!" Reuben roared, turning his arms around as if twisting the invisible wheel of a car as he zoomed around the corner. He froze when he saw Morgan, his 'car' melting out of his imagination.

"Morgaaaan!" He squealed, flying down the hall and launching into her arms. She staggered backwards, hugging the excitable boy back. "You back!"

"Hey, Reubs." She laughed. "It's only been four days!"

"No leave no more!" He demanded.

Loeila ran around the corner, her eyes filled with delight. "Aundie Morgan!"

Morgan hugged the tiny girl and smiled at Lindsey as she walked around the corner.

"Thanks Lindsey." Greg grinned.

"No problem. I have a date in half an hour, so I'll see you tomorrow." Lindsey returned with a smile as she shouldered her bag. "Bye!"

The others chorused back. "Bye!"

"So are you gone day here now?" Loeila asked Morgan, hanging down from her arms.

"Am I gonna stay?" she laughed. "No, Lola, I still live down the hall."

Loeila's face puckered. "Reuben?"

"Uh huh?"

"Dope!"

"Yeah!"

"Guys!" Greg protested as Reuben ran away and ran back with a skipping rope, wrapping it around Morgan's legs. "Cut it out."

Reuben looked at his father's serious expression and sighed, letting go of the rope. "Stay for bekfast?"

"I'll definitely stay for breakfast; your dad's making pancakes." Morgan grinned at Greg.

"He is?" Lola cried happily.

"He is?" Reuben repeated with just as much glee.

"He is?" Greg asked himself, confused.

"Yep." Morgan nodded, pulling something out of her back. "And _we_ are going to play _Clue Junior: The Case of the Missing Cake! _This is a gift to say sorry for not getting you that onesie._"_

"Whad happeneded to da onesie?" Loeila frowned.

"A little girl got it, a little girl who lost her mommy." Morgan explained softly.

"Did she lie it?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Den dats otay." Loeila smiled, taking the shiny new box from Morgan. "Ooh!"

"Now, this is supposed to be for four year olds and up." Morgan explained, winking at Greg who grinned and walked into the kitchen.

"But we only free!" Reuben protested.

Morgan smiled, poking his nose playfully. "But you're smarter than most three year olds, aren't you?"

Reuben smiled, leading Morgan into the living room.

Loeila carefully opened the box, placing the board gently on the table. "I wan' be dis one!"

"Okay, you can be Ms White, Reubs, who do you wanna be?"

"Da pople one!"

"Professor Plum?"

"Yea-huh!"

When Greg walked in half an hour later with a plate of pancakes, Lola bounded up to him. "Daddy, I losed!"

"You lost? Aw, no."

"Reuben was lie a poper CSI, dust lie you an' Aundie Morgan!"

"Did he win?"

"Yeah." Loeila admitted sadly.

"Well then we'll just all have to have pancakes now then."

"Yay!" the twins and Morgan chorused.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Due to the heavy caseload, it was about a week afterwards when Morgan finally got around to calling Blakelynn's foster home to arrange a visit.

She was shocked at the foster mother that she'd visited just a week before.

_"I'm sorry, Blakelynn DuBois doesn't live here anymore. She's at the Child Services Centre." _

"W-what?" Morgan stammered. "Why?"

A baby cried on the end of the line. _"I'm sorry. Talk to the people at Child Services." _

Morgan did so, half an hour later when she walked into Child Services.

"Alexis, what's going on? Stacey Pilkings told me that Blakelynn's back here."

"She's upstairs." The social worker nodded.

"Why?" Morgan asked. "She seemed happy there."

"Have you ever heard of racing greyhounds?"

Morgan blinked, taken aback. "Yes…"

"Some people say that ex-racers don't make great pets, because they're too set in their ways of chasing and running. Now most people say that's not the case and it depends on the dog, but it can be similar with kids from the same background as Blakelynn. She was both spoilt and neglected and its had an effect because she's so young. She doesn't know how to share, how to feel beautiful without make-up. She doesn't know how to live out of the pageant system, and for some foster parents like Mrs Pilkings who house about seven kids it's too much."

Morgan opened and closed her mouth. "Can I still see her?"

"Of course." Alexis nodded. "I don't mean to pry, but why?"

Morgan shrugged with a little smile. "I just…I want to make sure that she's okay…that there's someone looking out for her until she's got someone to fight her corner."

Alexis smiled. "Alright then. She's in the fourth room on the left, the common room."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Nick raced into the Grissom household, Kristy on his hip. "Hi Griss."

"Hi Nick. Sara said it was an all hands on deck call?"

"Yeah, I think it's another pageant director."

Grissom sighed. "Okay."

"Thanks for lookin' after Kristy." Nick grinned, half in thanks and half in amusement at the thought of his old boss acting as a stay at home dad. Nick kissed his little girl on the head. "Okay, sweetie, be good for Uncle Gil, I gotta go to work."

"I'ne always a good girl for Uncle Gil." Kristy rolled her eyes, hugging her father back quickly and scrambling down. "Love you!"

"Love you too." Nick laughed as she raced around the corner screaming _"ELI!" _as she went. "I'll see you later, Grissom."

His old supervisor nodded. "Later, Nicky."

Grissom peered around the door in time to see Kristy launch into the arms of her favourite cousin.

"Eli I haben't seen you in foreber!" Kristy squealed, hugging the boy tightly.

"I know!" Eli laughed, hugging her back. "Are you here all day?"

"All day long!" Kristy sang happily.

"But you still have to go to school Eli." Grissom reminded them gently.

"Aw, bud Uncle Gil!" Kristy protested.

Only half an hour afterwards Jamie and his mom knocked on the door to pick Eli up.

"Can we go to da bug room?" Kristy asked Grissom excitedly.

"Okay. But remember not to touch anything unless I tell you it's okay, alright?"

"Uh huh!" Kristy nodded, taking Grissom's hand.

Grissom led her into the basement, the room Sara called his "haven". Aquariums lined the walls filled with beetles and bugs, butterflies and caterpillars, hundreds of amazing creepy crawlies, and Eli found the creatures incredible.

That meant that Kristy thought they were incredible to.

As the toddler gazed through the glass at a large spider, Grissom smiled.

"Why'd you lie bugs so much, Uncle Gil?"

"Because they can tell you lots of things."

"Lie what?"

_How to tell how long a body's been dead for... _"Like where a person has been, what place something has come from... Why do you like bugs?"

"Coz Eli lies dem." Kristy replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "An he showded me dat dere cool! I was scarded before, bud he showed me dat deres nofin to be scarded ob."

Grissom smiled. "He did, huh?"

"Yup. Eli says dat I done hab to lie bugs dust because he does, bud I lie bugs anyways now. Daddy lies dem too."

They spent hours in the bug room, but Kristy was easily led away at the promise of picking Eli up from school.

As she held Grissom's hand in the playground, she eagerly scanned the surroundings for Eli.

"He not comin'!" She cried as tons of other kids poured out of the school.

Grissom hushed her patiently, reminding her to wait, and responded to the teacher leaning towards him. "Miss Potter?"

"Dr Grissom, I was wondering if I could speak with you in the classroom for a minute."

"Is there something wrong?" Grissom asked as he brought Kristy into the classroom with him.

"I was just wondering if everything's alright with Eli at home." Miss Potter, Eli's teacher, said in a soft voice.

"He seems to have had less confidence lately. It looks like he's improved since he was ill but I haven't had a chance to speak with you since..."

"Eli!" Kristy cried happily as he came out of the small cloak room.

He grinned when he saw her, though the boy next to him turned his nose up. "Urgh, that's a girl!"

"Hey, be nice! She's my cousin and she could easily kick your butt, Leo!" Eli smiled.

Kristy beamed and bounded up to them, slipping through the anti-girl barrier so many boys had up at that age.

"I know that Eli's confidence hasn't been that great." Grissom admitted, watching the three children pushing and shoving each other gently and playfully. "He told me when he was ill that he felt only loved as his father's replacement, not as himself."

Miss Potter looked at Kristy, doting on Eli without crowding or irritating him. "She's good for him."

"She is. His cousin."

Miss Potter smiled.

Grissom took the two children to the park on the way home from school. It was crowded but Grissom managed to keep his eyes on the two children.

"Eli?"

"Yeah?"

"I can' do the monkey bars." Kristy complained lightly as he started climbing up the ladder to the obstacle in question.

"They're not that great anyway." Eli shrugged, jumping down as two swings became free. "Bet I can swing higher than you."

"Bet you can't!" Kristy laughed.

They hopped onto the swings, both children kicking their legs as hard as they could. While Eli began to swing higher into the air, Kristy didn't move.

"I win!" Eli cried.

"I can' do anyfing." Kristy sighed. "Not til I bigger."

Eli smiled at her. "It gets easier."

Grissom blinked, recognising vaguely a man walking towards Eli and Kristy. Where had he seen him before…

_I _am_ getting old. _He thought to himself.

The man grabbed Kristy's hand and Grissom stood up.

It was James O'Shea.

The guy who told Nick that Kristy would be good in a pageant.

"Oh god," Grissom said aloud, jogging towards the two children.

Kristy screamed loudly as the man started to pull her out of the park, shouting "It's okay, I'm her dad. She's just bipolar, sorry people."

"Led me go!" Kristy screamed. "Eli, Unc Grissom help me!"

Eli leapt from the swing mid swing, racing behind the man and grabbing his legs, slowing him down and allowing Grissom to tear Kristy from the man's grip.

"Someone call the police!" Grissom roared, pushing the man to the floor.

Kristy started sobbing hysterically, and Eli hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Kristy, I got you, it's okay…"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"…she's okay?" Nick rushed as he raced down the corridor at Grissom's house, closely followed by Sara.

"She's fine. Nick, I'm sorry it took me-"

"I don't blame you Grissom, this guys a pyscho." Nick said earnestly, turning into the living room.

"Daddy!" Kristy cried, leaping into his arms. "Daddy Eli an' Unc Gil saved me!"

"I know, sweetie, I know." Nick murmured, holding his daughter tight.

Sara's phone beeped and she checked it, blinking.

"Well…They've figured it all out."

**Thanks for reading. This may seem random, but I hope its okay :S**

**Review please!**

**AN - I tried to make the characters as in character as possible, let me know how that went :)**


	35. Chapter 35: One Way or Another

**Wow, it's been a while! Writer's block is a bitch! I really hope some people are still enjoying this story, I write it for you guys! To anyone who reads, enjoys, favourites, follows or reviews this story, you should feel very loved!**

**I hope there aren't any mistakes in this chapter, I'm drawing together some strings :-)**

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty Five # One Way or Another #**

Loeila kissed Lindsey on the cheek and ran into day care with barely a look back. Reuben followed her in, instantly racing over to the chalk board to join his friend Mettie.

Lola however went outside. A little girl she didn't recognise was climbing onto the swing when a boy ran up to her. He tried to push her off of the swing but she pushed him away.

He went to push her back but Loeila got in the middle.

"Go way, Robin." She scowled, hands on her hips. Robin made a face and scrambled off, and Loeila smiled, hopping onto the empty swing next to the little girl.

"Hi."

"Hi." The little girl returned with a shy smile.

"Are ya new?" Loeila asked in interest.

"I haben been heeya befowa." The other little girl nodded her blonde head.

"Well its fun here." Loeila insisted. "Dere are some boys lie Robin who dust be mean and try to push deir way 'round bud da rest ob us are nice."

The little girl's shy smile grew a little bolder.

"Dat boy ober dere inside – da one climbing on the blackboard. Dat's my brover, Reuben." She pointed through the window. "Das his fend Emmett, bud we all call him Mettie. De little one wiv the blonde hair is Jasper, his brover. Dere mommy is called a Twilight because she lies da Twi-hard films."

She could see the other girl getting nervous at all of the boys, that consequently outnumbered the girls five to one, and reached out with her hand, touching the other girl's arm. "Don' worry. You be fine. I'll look after you."

The girl smiled back. "Fank you."

"Will you play on da climbing frame wib me?"

The other girl shrank away. "I...done know how..."

"I'll teach you!" Loeila sang, pulling her new friend over and teaching her how to do it all, except the monkey bars, which neither child could reach.

By the end of the day, the two little girls were firm friends.

When Greg came to pick the twins up at the end of the day, he noticed how close his daughter was to the new girl.

"Who is that?" he asked Mrs Langer, the head of the day care centre, "The cute little girl playing with Lola?"

"That's the new girl; she lives in a foster home. Her name's Blake, Blakelynn DuBois."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Morgan clapped her hands together, drawing the attention of everyone in the layout room. "I think I may have figured out who is killing all of these pageant directors."

"How'd you do that?" Nick asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, when he killed Alana Parker he screwed up. Hodges found trace from a latex glove and a blood smear on the crown he used to slash her throat, and he didn't notice it when he put it on her head. DNA belongs to a man called Cody Jennings, forty nine, from Brooklyn. I did some research and found out that Cody had four daughters, and I came across a hell of a motive. Cody's wife Marina was a great love of pageants, she entered Lily, Ella, Holly and Penny into pageants from when they were six months old. Lily, the oldest was sixteen when Penny first went into the pageant system. And Lily committed suicide on the day of her sister's first pageant. There were self-inflicted scars across her breasts and her buttocks, the only places unnoticeable in even the swimsuit competitions. Her father claimed that the pageants had killed her, that they'd destroyed her self-confidence, made her feel not good enough. In response, Marina took the kids and filed for divorce, claiming that Cody beat her. She found a sympathetic judge, got divorced quick and clean… But the story of the girls doesn't end there. Holly was raped at the age of fourteen on the way to school, it turned out that she was turning tricks to get money for a nose job. Ella was constantly told how worthless she was compared to her sister, and she went the same was as Lily but she survived, and is _still _in a psychiatric hospital today. Finally, Penny was abducted from a pageant when she was eight. Cody was institutionalised after he beat up his wife for "killing their daughters". And he got out of the psychiatric hospital two weeks before our first pageant director was killed." Morgan explained.

"That's… awful." Disgust marred Sara's pretty face. "I can almost sympathize with the guy..."

"Another list of amazing reasons why Kristy is never going into a pageant." Nick said gruffly. "How about James O'Shea, does he fit in or…"

"It looks like Jennings tried to frame O'Shea in the first case, but then decided against it. The nurses at the psychiatric ward said that his sense of justice was always very strong. O'Shea was the prime suspect in the disappearance of Penny Jennings." Morgan finished.

"Sounds like a very strong theory, but how do we find Jennings?"

"Moreno's on it." Morgan nodded.

"But why would he come after Kristy? O'Shea, I mean…"Nick asked.

Morgan swallowed. "Because…he's a paedophile, Nick."

Nick ran a hand over his face. "I want to talk to him."

"I don't think-"

The door flew open and Moreno burst in. "O'Shea's gone."

"Gone?" Nick cried. "How?"

"He's dead." Moreno said shortly. "Hung himself in his cell."

Nick sighed. "Is it bad that I feel relieved?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Kristy sipped at her pineapple juice and stared into space.

"Kristy?" Eli asked, skipping up towards her.

"Mmh?"

Eli frowned. His little cousin wouldn't even make eye contact with him. "Kris?"

"Don' call me that!" she cried, leaping from the chair and running away into the living room.

Stunned, Eli stood frozen in place.

He turned, slowly, and followed her into the room. She was sitting on the couch, her legs dangling off of the edge. She looked as if she'd been posed, she sat so still.

"What's wrong?"

"Go way!"

Eli's frown deepened. "It's my house."

"No, is Uncle Grissom an' Aundie Sara's house! Is no yours!"

Finally, Eli put his hands on his hips. "Kristy, why won't you talk to me?"

Kristy's lower lip trembled. "I wan'…"

"What?" Eli pressed softly when she didn't continue.

"I wan' a mommy!" she cried suddenly, bursting into tears.

"Oh…"

"You hadda mommy an' Reuben and Lola had a mommy an' ebeyone has mommys sept from me an' I wan' one!" she wailed.

Eli climbed onto the sofa next to her. "Is this because of the man?"

She just kept crying. "I no wan be confuseded, Eli!"

"Well it's simple, Kristy. We love you and we're gonna look after you like we did today. And you don't _need _a mom because you have _all _of us. But, we could maybe get you a mom."

"How?" she asked, sniffing.

"I think it's time Uncle Nicky gets a girlfriend." Eli said with a devilish grin.

Kristy's eyes widened. "A preddy one, a nie one!"

"Exactly!"

"One dat loves me!"

"Right!"

"How we fin' one?"

Eli considered for a fraction of a second, then his eyes lit up. He peeked into Grissom's room to check that the older man was still on the phone to the publishing company to arrange a Chinese edition of his book, then beckoned for Kristy to come onto the computer.

"This is Grissom's internet access, mine has blocks!"

"What we doin'?"

"You'll see. Name, Nick Stokes. Age…how old's your dad?"

"Uh…older dan me?"

"Age…40. That'll do. Now, profession…"

"What's dat?"

"Job. CSI. Interests… What does your dad like to do?"

"Football!"

"Football, my dog and my little girl." Eli said aloud as he typed. "Enter email address?" he shrugged and typed in his own.

"Alright, I'll speak to you soon…" Grissom's voice came from the bedroom and Eli and Kristy scrambled around. With a few swift clicks, the eight year old deleted the search history and joined Kristy in front of the TV.

Nicholas Stokes had no idea that he had just been signed up to

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Al Robbins walked down the corridor towards autopsy, ready to prepare and examine the body of James O'Shea, who was currently lying on his table.

He opened the door.

"What the hell?" he stammered.

The body was gone, and blood covered the area around the table. A hooded figure crashed into him from behind, and he yelled "Security!" at the top of his voice.

He froze when he looked into the man's eyes, the same eyes that had stared at him from DB Russell's case file.

The last thing he saw before his universe went black was the endless barrel of Cody Jennings' gun.

**review if it's worth it :)**


	36. Chapter 36: Never Surrender

**Hellllloooo? Anybody out there? Thanks to those who reviewed, another short chapter here but it will hopefully be quite sad. **

**Warning of strong language in more than one instance. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty Six #Never Surrender #**

Cody Jennings pressed his gun up against his head, trying to think.

"You bastard dickhead pervert!" he yelled at the man in front of him.

James O'Shea cowered into the wall, his hands tied together behind his back. "Wh-wh-who are you?"

"You stole my little girl, you bastard, and then you try to kidnap _another _little girl. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I-I-I- never-"

"Save. It." Jennings growled.

"What do you want from me? How did you-"

"Raise you from the dead?" Jennings mocked. "Next time you try to fake your own death, watch the dosage you poison yourself with. You overdid it."

O'Shea opened his mouth. "How-"

"Did I know? A mutual friend of ours let me know when you asked him for the drugs."

"Colin?"

"My brother."

O'Shea's eyes widened. "Fu…"

"You disgust me." Jennings spat. "I want to know where you buried my daughter!"

"I don't-"

"I will _blow _your head off, I swear to god!"

"Alright, alright!" O'Shea bowed his head. How could he possibly have known…

"Where is she?" Jennings roared.

"Buried in the backyard of my old house." He admitted hollowly.

Jennings let out a scream of rage and grief. He smashed his fist into O'Shea's face, and the other man screamed.

"I tried not to!" he screeched. "I tried to stop myself, I couldn't help it!"

Jennings roared once more, smashing his fist into O'Shea's stomach. "You sonofabitch, you killed her!"

"No, no, I didn't!" he wailed. "She…she…I was going to bring her back… I was…she just…she didn't like peanuts!"

Jennings' nostrils flared.

"She was _allergic!"_

O'Shea trembled where he sat whilst Jennings' bellowed.

"Where was your old house?" Jennings whispered.

"2365 Pearl Avenue." He gasped, breathless. "But a cop lives there now!"

"Which cop?" Jennings whispered dangerously.

"Nicholas Stokes."

Jennings' recoiled. "So that's why you went after his daughter…"

"When I saw him and his daughter at the scene of the pageant woman, the first pageant woman I realised he was a cop and I'd sold him the house directly so I recognised him but he didn't recognise me and so I-"

"Thought you'd take her too? You thought you'd kill Kristina Stokes too?"

"No, no!" he cried. "I just wanted to get one up on Stokes, I mean I scoped him out he had a dog, he might have discovered her and I just wanted to make him move so-"

"You thought that you'd take his daughter!"

"I've tried to stop myself, I was going to take care of her!"

"You were going to rape her!"

"No…"

"Admit it you motherfucker, you were going to _rape _her like you _raped _my baby!" he shouted, starting to sob.

O'Shea just shivered.

"You said that you watched the Stokes'. Scoped them out. Will anyone be home now?"

"I don't think so!"

"Get your stupid ass up, we're going for a ride."

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"I never thought I'd see you on one of these tables, Doc." David sighed heavily, sadly.

"I'm not dead, David." Doc replied angrily. "I'm fine. Now let me sit up."

"Are you sure that's-"

"A good idea?" Robbins asked Russell. "I'm fine, I'm just angry that I let another body be stolen."

"Another?" Russell frowned.

"About four or five years ago."

"And you couldn't do anything about it then, either." David insisted. "You should stay lying down until the paramedics get here."

"I am fine. I got pistol whipped, the worst thing about it is that I'm pissed off. Sorry." He added as an afterthought.

"Can you give us a description?"

"It was Cody Jennings, Russell. Trust me."

The doors to autopsy opened and Morgan rushed in. "Doc, you okay?"

"Yep. I'm good. Any sign of Jennings?"

Morgan sighed, shaking her head. "Everyone's on is. Well, everyone apart from Nick. He picked Kristy up from Grissom and Sara's, took her home."

"Okay, that's good. Kid needs some sleep." Russell nodded.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Daddy?" Kristy yawned, leaning on her father's shoulder as he carried her into the house.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go Disneyworld soon? You pomised I could see Punzel."

"I know I did. We can go as soon as I can get the time off work, okay?"

"Okay…" Kristy sighed.

"Jeez, I really need to pee."

Kristy giggled as her dad set her down and half danced to the toilet.

"Sam!" she called. "Saaaam!"

When the dog didn't come, Kristy frowned. He always came. A whining and barking came from the room upstairs.

She clambered up the stairs and opened the door to her bedroom. "Sam!" she smiled.

The dog growled and barked and Kristy's eyes widened.

"Sam?"

The dog brushed past her and raced to the back door, barking viscously. Kristy climbed onto her bed and peered out the window and her eyes widened.

"Daddy! _Daddy! _She screamed. "Daddy da man's here in da garden dere's men in da garden!"

She heard a door slam open and something smashed against the door of the downstairs bathroom.

"KRISTY!" Nick's cries were muffled and Kristy began to scream. "¡Llame ahora Russell, Kristy, dile que es una emergencia!"

Kristy's eyes widened and she scrambled under her bed, snatching the emergency phone her dad had left under her bed.

She pressed the number one and waited anxiously for the phone to pick up.

"_This is Russell?"_

"Russell da man's here, da man's-" Kristy glanced over her shoulder as the man burst into the door. He grabbed Kristy's feet and dragged her out.

She screamed. "Russell help me, help me! Ayuda me, Russell ayuda me, por favor!"

The man picked her up, but it wasn't the same man as the man in the park.

"Lemme go!" she sobbed, begged.

"It's okay, honey." The man said gruffly, stepping on the phone and stamping on it.

She screamed as her carried her down stairs and Sam barked, grabbing the man's sleeve. The man grunted but then kicked the dog into the next bedroom, slamming the door shut.

"DADDY!"

"KRISTY!" Nick roared from the bathroom, and the man carrying her flinched.

"Mr Stokes!" the man shouted. "My name is Cody Jennings."

There was a sudden silence, followed by the almost inaudible sound of Nick sliding down a wall.

"Don't…" Nick's begs were quieter.

"I am not going to hurt your daughter, Mr Stokes."

"Daddy!" she sobbed.

The man carried her into the garden and Kristy started to scream when she saw the man from the park.

The man stared at her almost hungrily and she started sobbing.

"Don't you dare look at her! DIG!" the man holding her yelled, putting Kristy down on the trampoline that had arrived only yesterday. "Look at me. Kristy, right?"

She kicked at him but he gently put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't want to hurt your family, Kristy, it's okay. But this man used to live in this house and he buried something very precious to me. We're just going to take it and go, and I promise, I won't hurt you or your daddy, not even Sam. Now I'm going to take you to your daddy, alright? Please don't kick me."

"Pomise?" she whispered, and he nodded.

"I'm so sorry about this, Kristy." He said sincerely, a look of pain on his face he carried her to the bathroom door which was wedged shut with a chair.

"Mr Stokes? I have Kristy here but I can't let you out just yet. I want to talk."

"About what?" Nick's voice shook.

"Put these in your ears, sweetie." He instructed Kristy, handing her iPod headphones and playing the song he used to sing to his girls so she would'nt hear more than she had to. "Mr Stokes, I've killed a lot of people. Evil, evil people. And I'm sorry that I did, but I had to. I had to stop the pain those girls go through. You think I'm mad, hell, I think I'm made. And I'm sorry I'm here…but that…motherfucking bastard buried my little girl in your backyard and I'm here to collect her. I'm sorry I killed those women, I'm sorry that little girl had to see it…but they're safe now. When I have my Penny's body I'll turn myself in, and that bastard O'Shea as well."

By the end of his confession, Jennings was sobbing. Kristy looked at him and took the headphones out of her ears. She couldn't help it.

"What's wrong?"

"My little girls are dead." He sobbed, hugging her for a brief moment. "You be good for your daddy okay, he loves you very much."

"I'm not going in!" a new voice snarled, and Kristy screamed as the man from the park ran down the hall with the shovel raised above his head.

"_KRISTINA!" _Nick screamed.

Jennings turned and ripped open the bathroom door, throwing Kristy in and slamming it shut again.

Nick grabbed Kristy and held her close.

"Daddy!" she squeaked, burying her head into his chest. Sirens sounded outside and he stroked her hair, listening in horror to the crashes of the fight that was tearing around his kitchen.

Jennings threw punches back at O'Shea, but his gun had fallen to the bottom of the stairs when the dog bit him.

He never wanted to hurt anyone.

O'Shea grabbed the gun and the door burst open, cops pointing guns everywhere.

"Drop the weapon!" they roared as one body, and Jennings was frozen in time.

"You're going down, O'Shea!" he called.

"And I'll see that little girl in the afterlife!" the paedophile spat, twisting and firing four shots at the bathroom door. Jennings stepped in the way of the bullets as the cops took O'Shea down.

As James O'Shea took his last breath, his bullets released the blood and pain from Cody Jennings body.

A father held his crying daughter, shaking but strong.

A dog whined and barked from the upstairs bedroom.

And in the garden, sunlight fell on the bones of an eight year old girl for the first time in eight years, forming a small halo around her pure white skull.

**This chapter is names after the Skillet song Never Surrender. Give it a listen and it may explain why I thought it fit. **


	37. Chapter 37: Love Is All Around

**Thanks for my reviews for last chapter. Here is a hopefully happier chapter for my lovely fans. This may seem out of the blue, but it was mentioned chapters before. Its difficult for me to write a no angst chapter that I'm proud of and I'm not 100% with this one but I think it's okay :) **

**Hopefully you'll enjoy it. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty Seven # Love Is All Around #**

"No!" Loeila screamed, holding her hands up to protect herself. "Peese, no!"

Greg picked up his daughter and ran up the stairs.

"Reuben!" He called, beginning to panic. "What're you doing?"

"Watchin' Wiggles."

"Okay, good, stay put!" Greg commanded, carrying his struggling daughter into the bedroom.

"Noo!" She cried.

"I'm not even braiding your hair, Loles, I'm just brushing it."

"Daddy!"

"Please, just be quiet and keep still, we're already running late!" Greg replied, trying to brush his daughter's hair gently and quickly.

Without giving her a choice he slipped the deep coral pink dress over her head, tying it up in a hasty bow and throwing her onto his hip. He raced down the stairs, grabbed Reuben and raced out of the apartment, thanking god that he had had the foresight to pack the car the night before.

He smoothed out the back of Loeila's dress gently placing her into the seat. He also made sure that he kept Reuben's little suit neat as he did up the car seat.

"Let's go go go!" Reuben called happily as Greg pulled out of his apartment building's parking lot.

Ten minutes later they pulled into a parking lot and Lindsey Willows ran up to them in a long tight fitting dress the same shade as Loeila's. "Oh thank god!"

"I have a flower girl-" Greg passed her Loeila. "And a ring boy."

He carried Reuben out of the car.

"Mom's starting to worry." Lindsey grinned as they ran into the Eclipse hotel and up to the hotel's finest suite.

"Everything'll be fine. As long as she's still a big _Love, Actually_ fan."

They paused at the door, and Greg placed Reuben down.

"Tell her good luck." Greg beamed.

"Family of the bride are sitting on the first row, left hand side." Lindsey informed him.

"Gotcha. Where am I sitting?"

Lindsey laughed lightly. "First row, left hand side."

Greg grinned, kissed his children quickly and hurried off.

Lindsey ushered the twins into the room.

"They're here!" she called, bustling over to Catherine.

"Thank god!" Catherine breathed.

Sara put her hand on Catherine's arm. "It's okay, Catherine. Trust us."

Catherine nodded, breathing deeply. "Wow…"

Kristy ran out of the bathroom, her hair braided on both sides. Nick came out behind her and beckoned Loeila over.

"Come in, up on the countertop, Lola."

She skipped into the bathroom and Nick lifted her up onto the bathroom counter.

"Uncle Nick?"

"Yeah?" Nick asked absently as he started to comb and part her hair.

"Will you peese no pull my hair lie daddy does?"

Nick laughed. "I'll try."

Catherine peered through the door and smiled at the look of pure concentration on Nick's face as he wove Loeila's hair through his fingers, French braiding the strawberry blonde curls down both sides of her head.

Since Kristy's hair had reached her little shoulder blades and Nick had learnt to braid, Kristy's hair had become more and more interesting, which was why the toddlers' hair had been entrusted to the Texan.

"We're nearly ready here, Cath." Nick announced, tying off the second braid.

Loeila ran her hands over the braids. "Tank you Uncle Nicky."

"You're welcome." Nick laughed, kissing her on the head and lifting her off of the counter.

She ran out and Morgan passed her a basket full of flower petals.

"Tank you!" she chimed once more, feeling through the soft silky petals as she moved over to stand next to Kristy, who was also in a matching dress. The two girls grinned at each other excitedly.

"Do you two remember what to do?" Sara asked them gently.

"Yes Auntie Sara." They chimed at once, beaming.

Lindsey snapped a picture of the moment on her iPhone and then walked over to Reuben who was trying desperately to flatten his hair, distress painted all over his little face.

"What's up, buddy?" she asked with a frown, and Catherine looked up, her arms behind her neck in an attempt to tie a necklace on.

"I'm just…tryin' ta…ma-ke…my hair…flat!" his words were broken up with effort as he wet his hands with water and forced them over his hair, sticking his bottom lip out as a few bits stuck up again. "Daddy said I have ta look real smart."

"Does that frown come free with flat hair?" Catherine asked, putting down the necklace and walking down to the mirror to crouch down with Reuben.

Reuben sighed. "I'n trying Auntie Catherine, I swear! I dust can't make it all stay flat."

"I believe you." Catherine nodded.

"I don' wan' ruin the photos with bad hair." Reuben asked, his voice cracking.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Catherine frowned. "I want Reuben Brody in my photos, not some boy with flat hair and a big frown."

He looked up at her and she messed up his hair so it spiked up in its usual chaos.

"Much better." Catherine's face split into a grin.

Reuben's smile first flickered and then flew across his face.

Morgan picked up her buzzing phone.

_"It's show time." _Finn sang down the line.

July had crept up on them, and the date of Catherine's wedding had arrived quickly. She had been tricked into letting the team organise the whole wedding, and Lou had suggested getting married in the Eclipse. Catherine's ownership of a large part of the hotel and casino meant that the hall where the wedding was taking place was decorated to its prime, and the whole thing had been made a lot easier.

The bridesmaids, Sara and Morgan were the first two to walk down the aisle to the slow traditional music.

Reuben followed them down, smiling proudly as he held the silk cushion bearing the wedding rings.

Lindsey followed him as the maid of honour, a small bouquet of flowers in her hands.

Moments later Loeila and Kristy entered through the large doors, scattering the petals across the floor in front of the two remaining people lingering by the doors.

"You ready?" Grissom asked Catherine with a smile.

"Yep." She nodded, grinning at him. "But I'm not sure I should've trusted you all to plan my wedding without even insisting on a rehearsal."

"Nervous?"

"About the service." Catherine nodded. "I'm happy with everything so far, but I'm still a little worried at that "I'm still hiding something" look on your face."

Grissom's grin widened. "What, you don't like surprises?"

"I'm hoping for one like Keira Knightley had in _Love, Actually_. It's my favourite film." She whispered as they entered the room.

"So you've told us. Many times." Grissom whispered back with a wry grin.

Butterflies flurried around inside Catherine's stomach as she walked all of the way down the aisle.

Grissom let go of her arm at the end and stepped to the side next to Lindsey, Sara and Morgan. The two flower girls were sitting on little chairs on either sides of the aisle, and Reuben stood next to Jake, Lou's son and best man.

Catherine couldn't help but smile as she looked at the sight of all of her friends and family.

Eli and the rest of the CSI team were all sat with Catherine's mom in the front row, and the service began.

Eli waited patiently for his moment to come, and when the service ended did he stood up and walked over to the piano. He started to play with both hands, and Catherine gasped as he started to sing.

_"Oh uh-huh  
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea  
I'll sail the world to find you  
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see  
I'll be the light to guide you_

We find out what we're made of  
When we are called to help our friends in need." 

He flashed a large smile at Catherine. __

"You can count on me like 1, 2, 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2  
You'll be there  
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah."

Reuben stood up and skipped over to the piano, singing along. __

"If you're tossin' and you're turnin'  
And you just can't fall asleep  
I'll sing a song beside you  
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me  
Every day I will remind you.

Oooh  
"We find out what we're made of  
When we are called to help our friends in need."

Loeila and Kristy both danced over to the piano.

_"You can count on me like 1, 2, 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2  
You'll be there  
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah."_

Greg, Nick, Jake and Henry all stood up and joined in, and Catherine laughed, covering her mouth.

_"You'll always have my shoulder when you cry."_

Sara, Morgan, and Lindsey all stood up next.

"_I'll never let go, never say goodbye  
You know..."_

Catherine glared tearfully at Grissom who smiled widely and stood up with the rest of the congregation.

_"You can count on me like 1, 2, 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2  
You'll be there  
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Ooooooh, oooohhh."_

Lou smiled, finishing the song himself. "_You can count on me 'cause I can count on you."_

Catherine laughed tearfully, clinging onto Lou's arm.

She turned to him and he smiled.

"We tried to one up what Andrew Lincoln did for Keira Knightley. It was Eli's idea."

Catherine turned and held out her arms.

Eli ran up and hugged her tightly.

"That was brilliant!" she sobbed.

Reuben ran up, looking horrified. "Auntie Catherine, you were s'posed to be happy!"

"I am." She nodded, hugging both boys tightly. "I am very, very happy."

"Dey happy tears, come back in pace, Reuben!" Loeila hissed. "You ruinin' it, dey have to walk down the aisle together to be romandic!"

Lou smiled. "Hey, why don't we all walk down together?"

Loeila frowned for a moment, before grinning and running down the aisle towards them, Kristy on her heels. Catherine winked at the bridesmaids and Jake, and they followed her down the aisle.

Archie, who was filming the wedding, couldn't help but smile as his video camera took in the bride and groom walking back down the aisle with the entirety of the wedding party. When Catherine reached the outside of the room she gasped once more.

Two pure white horses and a small carriage stood in the hallway of the Eclipse Casino.

Nick jogged up behind Catherine and she turned.

"How…?" she gasped.

"I remembered." He smiled.

_"You don't want a nice old car like this to drive you from your wedding to your reception?" Nick asked Catherine, nearly ten years previously, as they documented a vintage Ford from a wedding robbery. _

_"Nope. I did the whole vintage car thing with Eddie. If I ever get married again, I want white horses and a white and silver carriage." She turned to him. "That'll be your job." _

_He laughed. _

She laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome." He smiled, hugging her back.

The man holding the horses' reigns, Nick's friend Carlos, a ranch owner, offered a hand to Lou, who then helped Catherine into the carriage.

Reuben, Eli and Loeila jumped up to, but Kristy held her hands up to Carlos, hitting him with her best puppy dog eyes.

"Kristy-" Nick began.

"It's fine." Lou insisted, and with an innocent smile at her father Kristy climbed up and held onto the horses' reigns, assisted by the man.

"What's happening with everyone else?" Catherine asked, but Lindsey laughed.

"Mom, we can all walk just down the hall."

Catherine grinned and let the carriage ride off. Though the ballroom being used for the reception was merely a few doors down, Carlos led the horses through the ground level of the casino, parading Catherine and Lou around for five minutes.

Having heard of gamblers burned to death at their slot machines, both Catherine and Lou were stunned at the heartfelt, tumultuous applause they received. The children, however, lapped it up, with Reuben and Eli waving excitedly, Loeila 'princess waving' in the manner of a child's imitation of the English queen's dainty greeting, and Kristy flicking the reigns proudly, though Carlos was quick to pull them back.

When they returned to the room of the reception, Morgan, Lindsey and Sara were waiting.

They showed Lou and the children inside before taking Catherine into a side room, and passing her a halter neck dress, as white as her old fashioned wedding dress.

"Easier to party in." Morgan smiled as she picked up three similar dresses in pink for the bridesmaids. While their dresses were relatively plain other than the flattering cut, Catherine's was beaded across the bust, simply and elegantly.

They changed quickly and then returned to the ballroom amidst a large cheer.

Nick held a microphone to Reuben's mouth and the three year old yelled. "Let's get da party goin'!"

"Started, Reuben! Started!" Loeila giggled, and the whole room was infected with the contagious laughter.

Nick pressed a button on the laptop setting off the automatic playlist.

"Couples first dance!" he whooped, and the dance floor cleared.

Catherine paused, terrified about the song choice.

"I hope y'all like _Love, Actually_." Nick grinned.

When the music began to play, she laughed aloud and Lou took her in his arms, beginning to dance.

_"I feel it in my fingers  
I feel it in my toes  
Love is all around me  
And so the feeling grows_

It's written on the wind  
It's everywhere I go,  
So if you really love me  
Come on and let it show

You know I love you, I always will  
My mind's made up by the  
Way that I feel  
There's no beginning,  
There'll be no end  
'cause on my love you can depend…"

As the song continued, Grissom offered Sara his hand. They took to the dance floor, joining in the dance. DB and Barbara followed them, and Finn grabbed Moreno's hand. Henry and Mandy stepped in together, and Eli offered Loeila his hand.

"Dance with me?"

She grinned and curtseyed, and they waltzed into the middle of the floor, whilst Kristy and Reuben engaged in a much faster dance – though it didn't fit with the music.

Greg walked up to Morgan as Lindsey and Jake flew past.

"Would you mind dancing with me?" he asked.

She smiled, putting one hand on his shoulder and another in his hand.

Nick smiled at the pair of them, taking a drink from behind him.

"Excuse me." A pretty Hispanic woman brushed past him, before frowning. "Are you Nick Stokes?"

"I am." He smiled in confusion. Both pairs of children came conspicuously close as she continued.

"My sister, Katrina, she said that you worked in the crime lab and asked if I knew you. I'm a cop." She said as if it explained everything.

"How would she know that?" Nick asked.

" . She said she read your profile."

"But I-" Nick paused as Eli and Kristy dragged their partners away quickly. "Those damn kids. Kristy!"

She shuffled over guiltily. "Yes daddy?"

"This lady says that she saw me on a website." Nick raised his eyebrow.

"It was my idea." Eli piped up. "We uh…didn't want you to be lonely."

Nick's mouth dropped open. "So you made a dating website account?"

Eli leaned over to the woman. "Uncle Nick hasn't got any in a while!"

As he and Kristy raced away Nick went bright red, his eyes popping out. "You even know what that means?" he called after them.

"Nope!" Eli called back.

The woman laughed. "Well, my name is Eva. Eva Lopez."

"Pleased to meet you Eva." Nick smiled back.

"Fancy a dance?" she asked.

Nick smiled. "Sure."

"So your toddler and her-"

"Cousin." Nick filled in.

"Set you up a dating website account?" Eva raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently. I blame daytime TV. I'm not that desperate." Nick smiled at her. "You said you were a cop?"

"Well…I'm training to be a detective. Lou's dad was my godfather."

"I see." Nick nodded. "Well, I'm a CSI."

"I noticed." She laughed.

He laughed as well.

Morgan and Greg danced for hours, taking the occasional drink or child obeservation break.

At about half past eleven, they both noticed the twins starting to slow down.

"I'll need to take them home soon." Greg sighed.

Morgan wrapped her hands around his neck. "Taxi, I hope?"

"Definitely." Greg nodded.

Morgan tripped suddenly, falling onto Greg.

"Whoa!" he laughed. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled, looking up into his eyes.

It felt right, even if officially it wasn't.

A kiss.

A kiss that changed everything.

A kiss witnessed by a father, an old crush, a boss and four happy children.

"Well." Ecklie sighed, looking at Sara. "Here we go again. I just hope they can admit it so that I don't have to move them to separate shifts."

"Oh, they will." Russell grinned. "Took them long enough to get it on, though, they've liked each other for years."

"Let them enjoy it." Sara interrupted Ecklie's hinted move to step forward. "They don't have long."

"What, before someone else interrupts them?"

"No, before Loeila and Reuben fall unconscious. Then they'll have to leave." Sara grinned.

Grissom walked up to her, a large smile on his face. "You'll never guess what Eli and Kristy did?"

"What?" Sara said, instantly alarmed.

"Set Nicky up with his own 'Uniform Dating' web account." Grissom laughed.

"Are you drunk?" Sara asked in shock. "That's awful!"

"It's hilarious!" Grissom chuckled. "Lighten up Sara, Nick's fine with it! They said they worried that Nick was lonely. I think it was genius."

"You are drunk." Sara tried not to smile, raising a single eyebrow.

"I had one or two drinks." Grissom tried to evade the accusation, but Sara just shook her head.

"Eli'll have to come home soon." Sara remarked.

The eight year old was trying to continue dancing with Kristy, but the toddler was asleep and Eli was, to his embarrassment and disappointment, growing physically tired of carrying her. As if on cue he fell to the floor and they both woke up with a jolt.

Grissom and Sara shared a smile, before walking in to pick up Eli.

When they got in the car to go home, Eli stayed awake just long enough to sigh to his guardians.

"That…was a great day."

**I hope that was good. As you probably know, fluff isn't my strong point. I really hope I've done the characters justice. **

**I hope y'all had a great Easter! **

**Love y'all!**


	38. Chapter 38: Wouldn't It Be Nice

**Hola peeps! **

**Next chappy for ya, it feels a bit like a filler to me, I'm sorry, but it's necessary. **

**AUTHORS NOTE: I thought I had already added it in, but one of my chapters was accidently deleted so in re-writing I think I might have missed out a fairly important section that was something about Morgan moving down the hall from Greg after being attacked by Arch Terry, because it was in her price range blah blah blah. Sorry about that. **

**Here we go. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review**

**Chapter Thirty Eight # Wouldn't It Be Nice # **

_"Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?" Greg asked, blushing._

_"Like a date?" she asked him, not allowing the butterflies suddenly blooming in her stomach to show. _

_"Yeah..." _

_A kiss. A kiss that felt so right, but a kiss that was officially wrong._

Morgan opened her eyes, shifting slightly in the bath tub. She wiped her tear away from her eye and sighed.

She wished that something could have happened, but moments later Loeila had fallen and hit her head, and though she wasn't hurt she was so tired that she cried until Greg took her home.

The phone rang and she reached through the scented candles to pick it up. "Hello?"

_"Hi Morgan, what're you up to?" _

"Mom!" Morgan exclaimed happily. "I am having my weekly relaxing bath. How are you?"

_"I'm fine, I'm fine, how're you, how was the wedding?" _

"Oh, mom you would have loved it, it was beautiful." Morgan smiled as she spoke. "There was a horse and carriage, there were flowers everywhere, we bridesmaids all wore coral pink, it was so romantic, there was a live DJ, and we all flash mobbed Catherine in the church..."

"_So basically she had_ your _dream wedding_."

Morgan laughed. "I'm not getting married anytime soon, mom."

_"What about Gre-" _

"Don't!" Morgan's laughter stopped. "Please."

_"What? Oh honey..." _

"Mom-"

_"You're in love with him." _

"Mom..."

_"You can't hide it from me, sweetie." _

"Okay, mom, so I might be in love with him, but it's not going to happen."

_"Why not? You dated!" _

"Once! So many things happened, mom, and it's just...he doesn't need the added drama." Morgan finished, trying to convince herself.

_"Morgan Elisabeth Brody. I _know _when you are lying to me."_

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Mom…I'm friends with Greg, good friends. And I don't want to ruin that, I can't risk it."

_"Fine. Don't take my advice. I wasn't a matchmaker for twenty two years." _

She couldn't help but laugh. "You _weren't _a matchmaker for twenty two years."

_"Oh yes I was! Unofficially!" _

"Sure, sure." Morgan laughed. Her pager beeped and she groaned.

_"What, what's wrong honey?"_

"Nothing. Mom, I have to go, I have to go to work. I'm sorry, I'll call you later."

_"You work too much, Morgan." _

"Yeah well I do get paid overtime."

_"Don't burn yourself out, Morgan, okay, sweetie?"_

"I won't." Morgan promised, rolling her eyes. "I love you, mom."

_"I love you two, sweetie. Bye!" _

"Bye bye, Mom." She smiled, putting down the phone and clambering out of the tub. She dialled Russell's number as she reached for the fluffy white towel laying only inches from her fingertips.

_"Morgan?" _

"You called?"

_"Yeah, I did." _

"I may be a little while-"

_"I don't need you to come in, Morgan." _Russell said quickly. _"I just wondered if Greg's with you?"_

Ice chilled Morgan's heart. "No, he's not. Should I be worried?"

_"Nah, he's probably just running late." _

"You want me to run down the hall?" Morgan asked worriedly.

_"Morgan, he called me a about an hour ago to say he was going to be late, I just thought I could catch you out." _

Morgan's mouth dropped open and she coughed. "No, he's not here."

Russell laughed. _"If you say so! Enjoy your day off."_

Blushing, Morgan nodded. "I will. Bye."

She hung up and started to get dressed, but suddenly there was a knock at the door. She sighed and grabbed the silk kimono dressing gown that her mom had brought her from her latest trip to Japan.

As the knocking persisted she called out. "Coming!"

She looked through the peephole and opened the door. "Loeila?"

The tearful toddler flung herself into Morgan's arms.

"What's wrong, Lola?" Morgan cried fearfully, picking the small girl up.

"I-I-I-fought wid Reuben! I had a fide wid him, we neber fide, Aundie Morgan!" the toddler howled.

Morgan sighed in slight relief and closed the door. Instantly the phone rang and she picked up.

_"Morgan, Lo-"_

"She's here." Morgan soothed Greg's frightened voice.

_"Oh thank god! I'm so sorry!" _

"It's fine, Greg, she's pretty upset, do you mind if I talk to her for a minute, calm her down?"

_"Would you?"_

"No problem, speak to you soon." She hung up, turning to the trembling, sobbing girl in her arms. "What's wrong with you then, Loeila Maree?"

"We hadda fide!" she repeated.

"What about?" Morgan asked, sitting down on the sofa with Loeila.

"He-he-he-um…um…um…I don' remember!" she wailed.

"Okay, just calm down then. Sh, sh, there we go. So you don't remember what the argument was about, huh?"

"No!"

"Then you don't have to be sad."

Loeila blinked, her sobs ceasing. "I _don'_ have to be sad."

"Nope. I fought with my brother and sister _all _the time. But if you only argue with Reuben _some_times then you'll be fine."

Loeila suddenly smiled. "Fank you Aundie Morgan!"

Morgan laughed as Loeila jumped up off of the sofa and ran to the door, giggling as she raced down the hall, reaching her own front door at the same time as Lindsey. As she ensured that the tiny girl got home safe, Morgan heard Lindsey's rushed apologies. She smiled to herself and closed the door, heading back to her bedroom to change, but before she was able to reach the door, the doorbell rang again.

Morgan walked back to the door and opened it slowly. "Greg."

He smiled sheepishly, trying, and failing, to stop his eyes from wandering from her eyes to her breasts. "Hi. I, uh, just wanted to say thank you. For letting Loeila in."

She furrowed her eyebrows, though she couldn't help but smile a little. "It's not a problem." When Greg paused her eyebrows moved even closer together. "Is there something else?"

"About yesterday night…" Greg started, shuffling on the balls of his feet like a nervous teenager.

"The wedding." She confirmed, her insides twisting around uncomfortably.

_This is where he tells me that he made a mistake and he wants to remain friends… _she thought. The confidence that she used to possess had gone away; it had been stolen bit by bit, by kidnappers and rapists.

"Yeah…I just wanted to make sure that I um, didn't uh…offend you when-"

"No, no, you didn't offend me." At the look on Greg's face a little laugh burst from her lips and she shook her head. "No, Greg, no. You didn't offend me."

Greg's smile grew wider. "Okay then. Um…I just wanted to say that, uh, I…"

"What?" Morgan pressed.

Greg shuffled a little more. "Well… I was thinking, this morning… about people, things and things that I'd uh, regret not…saying, doing, if I something bad…happened…and-"

"Greg, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just hadda lot of coffee and I've been thinking, a lot…"

"You said." She smiled, and Greg smiled back at her. "Thinking's dangerous, you know."

His smile became more serious, more genuine. "I know." His phone beeped and he glanced at it offhandedly. "Yeah, I'm uh, really late."

As his voice trailed off into a little laugh, Morgan raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not drunk." He said quickly. "I'm just, feeling brave."

"Well, make sure you don't do anything stupid." Morgan smiled wryly.

"I hope I'm not doing something stupid now."

She frowned in confusion and Greg reached forward, kissing her.

The shock melted with the rest of her as she kissed him back, before they slowly broke apart.

Greg backed away with a cheeky but shy smile, gave a little wave and walked away to work.

Wide eyed and elated, Morgan shut the door slowly, barely remembering to lock and bolt the door, before dancing over to the couch and squealing with delight.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Greg, are you okay? You look a little…"

Greg blinked and looked at Nick. "What?"

"Out of it." Nick grinned.

"I'm fine." Greg protested. More than fine.

"Do tell, Greg, why are you 'more than fine'?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

He looked up with shock. "I said that aloud?"

"Nope, but now I know you thought it." Nick smirked as Greg groaned. "So spill."

"You are an asshole!"

"And we're digging through a four week old ground up body but you look like Reuben with a handful of candy, so spill."

Greg sighed, but a smile settled on his lips. "I am not telling you anything."

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Did you get some?"

"What?" Greg looked shocked and before he could reply Nick's eyes narrowed.

"No, you didn't, but you think that you will…" he studied his friend's face for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I got it!"

The door burst open and Finn popped her head in the door. "Guys, we got another scene."

Nick narrowed his eyes at a relived looking Greg. "This isn't over."

"What isn't over?" Finn asked with interest.

"Nothing." Greg glared playfully at Nick, leaving the room in front of Finn.

"What was that about?" Finn asked Nick.

"Ah, Greggo's got a secret." Nick chimed evilly. "And I plan on finding it out."

"Ooh, I _love_ this game!" Finn's eyes lit up.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"No!"

Rosa sighed and crossed her arms. "Kristy…"

"No!"

"Fine." The woman crossed her arms. "Quizás cocine galletas con manteca de cacahuete en vez de chocolate." _Maybe I will cook cookies with peanut butter instead of chocolate._

"No!" Kristy cried. "I'll do it!"

"Good." Rosa smiled as the little girl compliantly hopped down from the kitchen counter and ran into the bathroom to clean her teeth.

The moment the girl left the room, Rosa massaged her forehead. She closed her eyes. The last time she'd visited her ailing mother in Mexico, Nick and Kristy had been attacked, again. The day before she had received a call, her father had had a stroke. As much as she yearned to go back to Mexico, she wasn't sure when she would be able to return.

There was a knock at the door and she made sure to peek through the peephole before she opened the door with a smile.

"Thank you for coming, Orla." She hugged the young woman who laughed.

"It's not a problem. I was happy to come."

At the sound of a stranger's voice, Kristy poked her head around the door, warily calling out. "R-Rosa?"

"It's okay, sweetie, its fine." Rosa called, holding open an arm. "Come here!"

The toddler ran up to her, grabbing her legs tightly and hiding slightly behind her nanny. "¿Quién es, Rosa, quién es? ¿Por qué esta aquí?" _Who is she, Rosa, who is she? Why is she here?_

"This is my friend Orla." Rosa introduced the woman. "She's come over for the day."

"I'm Kristy." The little girl said shyly.

"It's nice to meet you, pet." Orla smiled.

Kristy giggled a little. "I lie your voi-cent."

"My what?" Orla looked confused.

"Accent, Kristy." Rosa corrected gently.

"Oh, my accent." She laughed. "I'm from Ireland."

"Oh, Iry-land!" Kristy exclaimed. "Dats near Engy-land."

"It is." Orla laughed.

"Why you in Vegas?"

Orla saw no reason not to tell the truth. "I'm lookin' for my dad."

"Why?" Kristy asked innocently.

"Well he took off when I was a cailín beag, and me mam finally told me he's in Vegas about a month ago."

"Wha's a ca-leen bug?" Kristy interrupted shyly.

"Oh, sorry." Orla laughed a little. "It means little girl."

"Oh." Kristy blinked, before smiling shyly. "Den you just came ta Vegas?"

"Well, I had ta save up first." Orla smiled.

"How d'ya know Rosa?"

Orla smiled. "Rosa is my Aunt."

Kristy scrutinised Orla's blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes. "Really?"

Orla laughed. "Yeah. Me mam moved to Ireland for University and stayed there, and I apparently take a lot more after my dad."

Kristy's eyes studied the two faces. "You have a nose an' ears lie Rosa."

Orla smiled. "I do. Me mam broke her nose a few years back, I hardly look anything like her now."

Rosa watched Kristy as she led Orla into her bedroom to play with the big dolls house that her Grandpa had given her for her birthday.

When Kristy was put to bed, Orla sat down in the kitchen with Rosa.

"Well, she is adorable."

Rosa smiled and nodded. "She is."

"Are you sure you want to…"

"Yes. I've already spoken to Nick about it, now it's just a matter of seeing if it works."

"What about with her?" Orla tilted her head to the side.

"Well, she doesn't trust easily. The fact that she led you into her bedroom is a very good sign."

Orla smiled, putting a hand on her aunt's. "You look scared, Tía."

"I am just tired." Rosa yawned.

Orla smiled sympathetically. "I can tell. Oh, did I tell ya? Mam got a new boyfriend!"

The two women were still chatting when Nick came in quietly at seven o'clock the following morning.

"Rosa, I'm home!" he called quietly, walking into the kitchen.

"Hi Nicky. This is my niece, Orla."

Nick smiled, invisibly recognising the traces of Mexican around her facial features. "How're ya doing?"

"I'm good thanks, it's nice to meet you." She smiled, offering her hand.

"Irish?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

Orla laughed. "The first thing your daughter picked up on, too."

Nick laughed back. "Sorry…"

"It's not a problem."

"So what brings you to Vegas?"

She shrugged. "A change of scenery. That and I'm looking for my father, I don't know who he is."

"I'm sorry about that." Nick frowned.

"Well he's probably an asshole, but if that's the case at least I'd know about it." She smiled again.

"Well that's a good attitude to have." Nick grinned.

Orla smiled. Her phone rang and she jumped, checking the caller ID. She rolled her eyes. "It's my mam. I'm sorry, I have to take this call. Excuse me."

Nick smiled after her as she ran out into the hall. "I like her."

"Good." Rosa smiled. "Nick, she's looking for a job. A steady job. She works hard, I've known her since she was born. And Kristy likes her."

Bittersweet emotions swamped Nick. "You sure that you want to quit on me?"

Rosa punched his arm. "Don't do that to me, Nicky!"

"Do what?" he laughed.

"Guilt trip me."

"I'm sorry, Rosa." Nick said sincerely. "You want to go to Mexico, right?"

She smiled wryly. "Yes. Then back to Texas."

Nick smiled sadly. "And you think that Orla would be a good replacement?"

Rosa nodded. Without speaking, the two hugged tightly.

Nick considered for a moment. "Well, if you think that it's a good idea, I will give her an 'official interview', and then I will hire her."

"Good." Rosa smiled. "And if anyone asks if you chose her because of nepotism…tell them 'damn straight'!"

Nick laughed at her Texan accent. "Okay, I will do."

Orla walked back into the room with a little smile. "Sorry…"

"That's not a proble-"

"Ro_sa_!" Kristy called from upstairs. "Rosa help me, I stuck!"

"'Scuse me." Rosa rolled her eyes.

As she left the room, Nick turned to Orla. "So Rosa tells me that you're looking for a job."

Orla shuffled a little. "Let me get something straight here, I didn't come here to beg for a job, I came here to see Rosa and she suggested it to me."

"Okay, I believe you." Nick grinned. "But would you want to be a nanny, I mean it's not exactly easy… I mean, Kristy behaves well enough, but sometimes she can be a little fussy. And as opposed to most families it can be a little more dangerous for us…"

"I know." Orla insisted. "Rosa rings once or twice a month, tells us all about your adventures."

"Adventures? That's a nice way to put it."

Orla laughed. "I've worked in a pre-school since I was 22, that's nearly eight years now."

Nick tried not to show his surprise. "You're thirty."

"Twenty nine." Orla corrected. "Well, for two days, anyway."

Nick grinned and Orla continued.

"I have first aid certificates, a black belt in karate and aikido and Rosa can verify that I'm a pretty nice person."

"And a very modest one." Nick grinned teasingly.

"Right you are." She teased back.

Nick sighed, worrying about the awkwardness that could potentially ensue. "I don't mean to be rude, really I don't, but do you mind if I-"

"Run my prints?" Orla nodded with a smile. "That's fine. Take whatever you need, my prints, my DNA…"

Nick sighed. "I'm sorry, Orla, I'm just a little…paranoid…right now."

"Oh, it's fine." Orla's emerald green eyes shone with sympathy and sincerity. "You have every right to be. I may have a tiny criminal record."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

"My ex was stalking me, ten years ago when I was studying in England. Left me messages and stuff. Irish whore, that was his favourite thing to say. So when I saw him outside my window for the fifth night in a row I decided to show him just how Irish I was. I er, threw a potato through his window."

"Really?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"I think that's a forgivable crime."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Well, I know that Rosa wants to leave as soon as she can, I can look after Kristy at work for tonight, but if you like you can hang around for a while… I have to warn you, the hours are rough. You can live in, if you like."

"That'd be great, if it's okay with you." She smiled.

Rosa re-entered the room with a sleepy Kristy on her hip.

"Daddy!" the toddler pouted, reaching out to her father.

"Hey baby girl. What's up?"

"I god stuck in my duvet!"

"Aw man!"

"I know, Daddy. Dis Orla, she nie!"

"Ni_ce_." Nick prompted gently.

"Wha-tever!" she yawned, causing Nick to yawn himself.

"Have you hired her yet?" Rosa asked, Nick quietly.

"Yep." Nick nodded.

"Well, I can start this evening if you like."

"Start what?" Kristy frowned.

Rosa crouched down in front of her. "Kristy, my dad is very sick. I need to go back to Mexico, and I won't be coming back for a while."

"How long is a while?" Kristy asked suspiciously.

Rosa sighed. "I'm not going to be your nanny anymore, Kristy."

Kristy's eyes widened. "Why?"

"I have to look after my parents."

"Why?" Kristy started to cry. "Why? Done you lie me anymore?"

"I love you, Kristina. But I have to go, okay. Tonight. My daddy might die, tomorrow even."

Kristy's lip wobbled but she stopped crying. "I be strong."

"Good girl." Rosa smiled. "But Orla will be your nanny now, okay?"

Kristy looked up at the girl and a smile passed over her face. "Otay."

Surprised at the ease with which the toddler took the news, Nick handed over the cell phone when she asked to call Eli.

"I nee mole supper!" she claimed as Nick typed in the number.

"Do you mean moral support?" Nick asked with a smile.

"Wha-deber!" she chimed, running away.

As the adults talked, Kristy waited for Sara to pass her over to Eli.

"Eli!"

_"Hey Kristy. What's up?"_

"I done fink we need dat dating web thingy no more. My daddy's gone by in love soon."

_"With who?" _The interest in Eli's voice increased.

Kristy glanced over her shoulder. "My new nanny!"

**Wow, two pretty much angst free chapters! I am the boss! **

**If you enjoyed it, drop a comment. The new review system is a lot easier to use ;) **

**sorry if I made any mistakes, this chapter was quite hard to right, and I've been trying to revise. **


	39. Chapter 39: Hold My Heart

**Thanks for reviewing guys! In these dark study filled days they are more useful than you can possibly believe. **

**Revision is well and truly underway, so updates will probably be about this speed, I'm really sorry. **

**I hope that you enjoy this chapter. **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Thirty Nine # Hold My Heart #**

"So you two are dating?" Russell span around a little in his chair.

"Yeah…"

"And you want to stay on the same shift?"

"Yes."

"And you've come to me before you were caught."

Greg and Morgan glanced at each other. "Yeah…"

"Well what the hell took you both this long, I mean geez…" DB shook his head and at the sight of their shocked faces he rolled his eyes. "Well we all noticed! You've been ogling each other for years."

"Ogling?" Greg frowned.

"Years?" Morgan looked confused.

DB laughed. "Anyway, Ecklie and I already talked about it, when we saw your little moment at the wedding, quite adorable I must say." Ignoring their reddening faces he continued. "Seeing as how you've done everything properly and there're no department rules against it, seeing as though neither one of you is a supervisor or anything like that I doubt we'll have any problems. Just don't let me see it, and stay professional at crime scenes for god's sake!"

Greg and Morgan couldn't help but grin.

"Oh, Greg, on a side note, do you know if Archie's tracked down the caller yet?"

Greg knew instantly which case he meant. A gang had been torturing and murdering people regardless of race, age, religion and wealth, and after DB made a strong case on television, the leader, who identified himself as only Z, had been plaguing him with phone calls in the night, taunting him by mentioning crimes before they occurred.

"He's working on it." Greg nodded, and he and Morgan walked into the hall as Russell sighed.

"So I guess this means it's officially official then?" Morgan grinned at Greg.

He smiled, the sheepish, childish grin that graced his face when he looked at her with his guard down. "I guess so."

"You wanna go out for a drink after shift?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

"Do you have any plans tonight?" Nick asked his new nanny.

"No…" she frowned. "Why would I?"

"It's your birthday." Nick raised an eyebrow.

"I started working, and I aim to continue doing so." Orla smiled, picking up a small bear.

Nick laughed. "That doesn't mean working through your birthday."

She ducked her head, golden curls hiding her face. "I don't have many friends here yet, not really. A friend invited me out, but there's no one to look after Kristy."

"I have friends who could look after her for the night." Nick insisted. "Honestly, go out with your friends. Tell you what…" he walked over to the counter and pulled down a flyer. "This is a great bar, very safe area, you can call your friends, get them to meet you there."

She grinned. "Ah, that'd be grand! Thanks"

"Great." Nick grinned. "Kris?"

There was a small thunk followed by the soft pitter-patter of feet running down the hall as Kristy responded to her dad.

"Daddy?"

"It's Orla's birthday tod-"

"Happy birthday!" The three year old sang happily. "We make cake!"

"Thank you." Orla laughed gently.

"We make a cake now, all ob us please?" she implored, hitting both adults with her best puppy dog eyes.

"I don't see why not." Nick mused. He had taken the night before off in order to help Orla settle in, which meant that he had actually slept.

"That'd be fun." Orla smiled, and they entered the kitchen.

"We nee' some eggs." Kristy cried, racing around like a bull in a china shop.

Just as Nick was about to say something, Orla put her hand on Kristy's head gently, stopping the girl's movement.

"Whoa, young lassie." Her accent grew thicker. "We also need an intact kitchen."

The toddler giggled and slipped away, though her movements were slower and more purposeful.

"There we go." Orla smiled. Nick grinned at her as they followed the toddler to the kitchen.

"We nee eggses and flour and sugar!" Kristy cried.

"Eggses? We have a Smeagol in the room." Nick remarked.

Orla laughed but Kristy scowled.

"Eggses." She repeated firmly, going to get the said objects from the fridge.

"Orla can get the eggs." Nick insisted. "Can you find the butter for me Kris?"

"Otay." She sighed, finding the small tub of butter as Orla opened the fridge to retrieve the eggs.

Nick went for the flour and sugar as well as any miscellaneous ingredients, and soon they were in business.

"Mix!" Kristy cried happily when she was gingerly passed the wooden spoon. She refused to use the electronic whisk - Rosa had rubbed off on her. "Mixy mixy mix!"

She mixed until the butter was just beginning absorb the sugar and then trust the bowl into her father's hands.

"Daddy mix! Too tired." She declared, holding her arms out to Orla.

The woman smiled and picked the girl off of the counter and held her whilst Nick sighed and mixed up the butter and sugar.

At Kristy's insistence they each tested the mixture before Kristy threw the flour through the sieve and into the bowl.

"Oops!" Nick chuckled at the shocked look on her face as the flour covered it. They continued on without incident and put the cake in the oven, happily sitting down on the sofa to talk.

"So, Orla, what are your plans then?" Nick asked as Kristy settled in between them.

"I just want to stay in Vegas for a while. Maybe track my dad down, but you never know..."

"I could help you with that." Nick offered. "I do work at a crime lab, and I also know of a genealogist who could help if all else fails."

"Thanks." She said with her sunny smile. "I appreciate it."

"Wha' you bab called?" Kristy asked, the thumb in her mouth mangling her words.

She grinned a little sheepishly. "Sean Murphy."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Ah."

"I know." She looked sheepish.

"Why?" Kristy pressed, trying to read between the adults lines. "Why dat bad?"

"There are a lot of people called Sean Murphy."

"Why?" Kristy frowned.

"It's a very common name in Ireland." Orla explained.

Kristy considered that for a moment. "How common is my name?"

"Less common than Sean Murphy." Nick remarked. "I don't think that there are very many Kristy Stokes' in the world."

She smirked happily. "Good. I don' wanna be lie de obers. I wanna be de only one."

"Well I don't think that you'd be the only one." Orla admitted. "But you're definitely the most special."

Nick was amazed how well Orla settled in from the beginning. Kristy just adored her, and on the nanny's occasional days off Kristy's stories were full of tales of the Irish woman.

And she was definitely growing on Nick. He appreciated how good she was professionally – how happy she made Kristy, how she always had a fresh cup of coffee and a warm dinner ready for him when he got home no matter what the hour or how long the shift had been. She was always on time, always ready whenever he needed her.

And she was growing on him personally as well. He was surprised at how much the little things affected him.

The way she would have two loose curls falling down the side of her face no matter how she tired her hair or how much she complained about it.

The way she bit her tongue during concentration, the way she had a comeback for everything.

He loved the way she kept him on his toes. He loved the way she laughed.

And oh, did he love the way she looked.

"Nicky-boy?"

Nick jumped. "Yes?"

"Here's your lunch, here's your phone, you left your keys on the stairs and if you don't quit daydreaming while you stare at my arse, you'll be late for work." She winked, pressing the objects into his hands.

"I may be a little late today, Orla, Russell's expecting Zandro Cardoza to retaliate against the raid on his drug house."

"That's the z_ed _guy, right?"

"The _zee _guy, yeah." Nick laughed as Orla stuck her tongue out.

"Take your damn wallet."

"What'd I do without you?"

"You'd fall into and endless pit of lateness and doom. Now shoo! To work with you!" She laughed, sending him out of the door.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Reuben jumped up and down on the spot, his hand encased in her fathers. Greg had taken the twins to the lab when he had been called in on Lindsey's day out, and Reuben loved the lab.

He ran through the corridor towards Henry's lab, but Greg's stern call drew him back.

"Reubs, not in the labs until you're invited. Until then you're in the-"

"Break room!" Loeila chimed, skipping into the room in question.

"Good girl." Greg called after them.

Greg kissed both children on the head and left the room. Both children knew the drill, and they both liked it. They also both knew that if they misbehaved they would be caught and punished, most likely with no dessert for a week.

Reuben instantly pulled out his colouring pad. As it was night-time, they were expected to go to bed, but Reuben loved to colour as he watched the bustling workers on the lab. In truth, he didn't even care about the colouring. It was what his father called an _alibi. _

He watched, his eyes following the figures passing by…

Ecklie, arguing with someone he didn't know…

Archie, on the phone, walking in the other direction...

Reuben giggled as his father's friend stuffed the phone in his pocket, looking at the floor as Ecklie stalked past. While the man glared at Archie, he made sure to pause to smiled and wave at the twins.

Henry waved at him as well with a smile as he walked into DNA…

Mandy was the first to pause at the door. "Hey guys, it's nice to see you two here."

"Hi Mandy." Reuben sang, his angelic face lighting up. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Finger painting." Mandy smiled, using the words that the children used to understand the goings on of the lab.

"Ca-" Reuben stood up, but suddenly an overwhelming dizziness overtook him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Henry coughing, falling over his desk.

An overwhelming pain burst through his head and he screamed, but it was let out as a weak cry. He staggered forwards, grabbing his throat but he couldn't breathe.

He fell to the floor, invisible fire consuming his body.

_Daddy, Daddy, where are you?_

He reached out feebly to Loeila who screamed.

As the air drew in through her lungs, Loeila felt something was wrong. It was bad air, bad air in her throat.

It burned the inside of her neck, it burned and it hurt and she fell.

_Daddy help us! Please Daddy please! Help me Daddy! Daddy it HURTS!_

Mandy lurched towards the twins but she took a breath of toxic air and the posion shot through her system. Like a puppet whose strings were cut, she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Zandro Cardoza stepped into the crime lab, a gas mask covering his face.

He was loose in Russell's domain. Right in the middle of his enemies lair.

How could he hurt the man?

He stared at the lab technicians, vulnerable and unconscious on the floor, no doubt in pain. As he stalked though he took in a pair of toddlers on the floor.

Oh yeah. This was gonna be fun.

**Unexpected? In my defence I gave you two whole angst free chapters :P **

**I really hope you enjoyed it, leave me a comment if you did. Also comment if you have any theories or things that you would like to see happen and you may be happily surprised :-)**

**By the way, I uploaded a new story (Sequel to BIEH) the other day, called "The Light Behind Your Eyes" check it out ;)**


	40. Chapter 40: Pleasure and Pain

**Hola! Thanks for my reviews, here's a quickie for y'all lovely peeps!**

**ZOMG! Forty chapters! (is it dragging? me worries :(...) anyhow, lets get a BIG response for the BIG four-oh, yeh? ;)**

**Sorry for mistakes, love you lots! **

**Read. Enjoy. Review. **

**Chapter Forty # Pleasure and Pain #**

Jim Brass never used to take days off. In the past, when a rare day off did come, he would usually get on his motorbike and ride all day. Or watch a day full of television.

However, since his daughter Ellie had come back into his life bringing his young grandson Chase with her, his whole attitude had changed.

He took days off whenever they came his way, and spent most of his spare time with Ellie and Chase.

That was where he was, at Chase's third birthday party, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

When he saw the work number he clenched his teeth together.

"Gangpa no!" Chase pleaded when he saw the phone that he had come to associate with the absence of his grandfather. "No do da phone!"

Ellie caught her father's eye and he winked at Chase.

"I'll tell them to mind their own business." He pressed the accept call button. His voice was complete ice. "There better be aliens attacking the Pentagon."

_"How about Zandro Cardoza attacking the crime lab?"_

Jim sat up. "What?" 

Ecklie's strained voice crackled down the phone. _"He must have used some sort of gas, Jim, and he's not negotiating right now."_

"Tell me our guys got out?" Jim ran a hand over his jaw.

_"There are all of the grave shift technicians still in there, along with two women from swing shift, Finn, Sara and…Loeila and Reuben." _

"The twins?" Brass' heart fell through his stomach and onto the floor.

_"Brass, we need you here, now." _

Jim massaged his forehead. "Okay, okay…is everyone else there?"

_"Nick and Greg don't know yet, they have a robbery in the desert, we're trying to reach them now but…" _

"Okay… I'll be in soon."

"No!" Chase wailed as Brass hung up. "Gangpa!"

"Dad-"Ellie started.

"Ellie, you know that I want to be nowhere else but here, but our perp has taken invaded the crime lab, there are people in there, kids in there."

"Gangpa I wan you be ad my birday!" Chase looked up at Brass with tearful eyes.

"Tell you what, next week I will take you and your mommy somewhere special, just the three of us. I promise. And I'll buy you three more presents."

"Be cayfool!" Chase pouted, kissing his grandfather's cheek and settling into his mom's arms.

Jim felt a churning mix of guilt, horror and dread flooding his heart, his head, his gut.

And the overriding thought in his head kept pounding around and around.

Greg didn't know.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

They laughed so hard that tears leaked out of their eyes. Nick gripped the steering wheel even tighter.

"Honestly Nick, that was the funniest case I have had in years. I am telling you man, animal cases are the best!" Greg managed to say through his laughter.

"I cannot believe that the farmer didn't realise that the-"

"Oh my god I have five missed calls from Russell, six from Finn and ten from Morgan." Greg murmured suddenly. "Something's wrong…"

"Why the hell didn't your phone ring, why didn't _my _phone ring?" Nick frowned.

"No signal." The phone was already at Greg's ear. "Morgan?"

Nick watched as Greg's face paled.

"Wh-wh-what?"

"Greg?"

"You're not serious, please Morgan you're joking." Greg's voice was suddenly hoarse.

"Greg what's wrong?" Nick asked, worry rising in his throat.

"No…"

In a single syllable word that could be described with any verb that Nick knew, his younger friend expressed so many feelings.

Horror, fear, disbelief, dread, hurt, pain, distress…

Vulnerability.

"Greg?"

"Everyone's in there?" Greg whispered. "You're sure that there're in there?"

There was a pause.

"Morgan… we're coming. No, the case is solved."

Greg hung up the phone and stared straight ahead for a moment, before looking at Nick right in the eye.

"Zandro Cardoza is in the crime lab…everyone's still in there."

Nick's mouth dropped. "The twins?"

"In there." Greg nodded. "Nick, we need to get straight back to the crime lab."

"We're already going there, Greggo." Nick reminded him softly.

"Nick we need to be there." Greg's voice rose a little.

"Greg, calm down." Nick started.

"Calm down!" Greg cried. "Nick, my _kids _are in a building with our _colleagues _and a _freaking psychopath!" _

"I know, Greg, I know!" Nick insisted.

He cursed every god known to man as he flicked on the siren.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Zandro Cardoza stared at his ten captives as they started to come to. In the ten minutes it had taken them to even stir he had dragged each of them into reception. With one a minute, he was quite pleased.

He took off the gas mask and set up his cameras, knowing that they would feed down to the monitors that he had set up for Russell's enjoyment below.

Then he sat in the shadows and waited.

It was funny, how they all started blabbering and blathering on at once.

Pathetic.

"I would be quiet if I were you." He said dangerously, putting a cowboy hat on.

Appearances are everything.

Silence fell and he studied each face. He saw mostly fear, a little determination and fight here and there.

He studied the faces of the toddlers and frowned. While the little boy looked rightly terrified, the little girl was different.

He crouched down in front of her but her expression didn't change.

"You look pissed off, kid." He remarked.

She looked even more disgusted than she did before.

"Tell me how you feel. Come on, kiddo. Tell me what you're thinking." He grinned darkly.

"Tired of bad mans."

He blinked. He wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean?"

"Bad mans keep huting us. Bad mans should go away. I don' lie you!"

Cardoza scowled. Already the child was getting on his nerves. He swung his gun casually towards her face and instantly the blonde woman next to the toddler leaned down.

"Lola, be quiet, honey." She murmured, sheltering the little girl slightly with her body.

"And what would your name be?" he leered in her face.

"Finn." She answered tightly.

"Well he-llo, Finn." He crooned, enjoying the shiver his words sent down her spine.

"Hello, Cardoza." She returned anyway.

"I'm impressed by your girl balls." He laughed. "But don't talk to me unless I specifically ask you to."

He turned and swung the gun at a brunette woman. "And you are?"

"Olivia."

"What do you do?"

"CSI." The woman whispered. "Dayshift."

"You're not Russell's…" he mused. "Anyone else here not Russell's? Answer me truthfully!"

Another woman raised her head. "I'm from days."

"Name?"

"Madison."

"You two. Stand up, walk to the door."

He felt glorious as they floundered to do so, arriving at the elevator and waiting.

"Push the button, Maddy." He ordered. As she did, he continued to speak. "You two can leave now."

They fell into the elevator and the doors closed on their frightened faces.

"See the guilty relief?" he asked his remaining captives. With no other warning he opened fire on the doors, ignoring the two toddlers' screams. "Fixed. So… you're all Russell's? There's no need to talk, just nod."

Each head obediently bobbed up and down and he smiled. "Good. But there're too many of you here. You, you, you and you, stand up."

Hodges, Mandy, Henry and Xiomara all stood and he pointed to the elevator.

"If y'all shut up, I won't shoot. Deal?"

No one spoke and the three stepped into the elevator. The second the doors closed they moved to the edges of the elevator, but to their relief no bullets pounded into the metal.

Studying his remaining captives, Cardoza was happy.

"Now, we know Finn and Lola. Who are you?"

"Archie."

"Sara."

"Reuben."

"Good." He stared at the fidgeting boy and walked over to his kit. He threw a rope at Sara. "Tie the kid up."

"Please-" the brunette started, but ignoring how much he enjoyed her begs he shut her up with another threat.

"You would rather I shot him?"

She closed her eyes and took the rope, pulling the tiny boys long sleeves over his wrists before lightly looping the rope around.

Sara closed her eyes as she felt the cold metal of the gun in the back of her head.

"Tighter."

She leaned forward, whispering in Reuben's ear. "It's okay, Reubs."

He leaned back towards her and the man smiled.

Reverberating rings rocketed through the lab and he scowled at the phone, before pressing speaker.

"He_lloooo?"_

_"Cardoza, this is Sherriff Ecklie-"_

"You want me to talk, you get Russell."

_"I'm right here." _Another voice added. _"What do you want?"_

"Hmm, nice question. A lot of things, Russell. But you know what, you're a pain in my ass and this is my pain relief. So don't expect your naïve surrender so soon."

_"Why don't you let the kids go, Cardoza, they're no part of this?"_

"Harsh." He snorted. "It doesn't matter what happens to Sara, Archie and Finn, then."

_"I didn't say that Cardoza." _

"Just watch, Russell. It's not too hard."

He pulled Archie to his feet, only to kick the man so hard that he skidded backwards across the floor and smashed into the wall of the ballistics lab and remained limp on the floor, his neck at an awkward angle from the impact with the wall.

"Wimp." He snorted, walking over to Sara. "Stand up."

She did hastily, her fingers lingering protectively over Reuben's trembling shoulders. Then he grabbed the back of Loeila's jacket and hoisted her into the air, thrusting the wriggling child into the woman's arms.

Sara wondered if her heart would ever be able to thaw from the frozen crystals of fear that this man had reintroduced to her heart. Even as fear of death arrived she felt alive, every muscle in her body primed for survival.

Her ears picked up the sobs fighting to come out of Loeila's pursed lips. The three year olds' arms were tightly secured behind her head, and her own arms cradled the little girl's vulnerable body. As the toddler nestled her face into Sara's neck, Sara murmured wordless comforts to her.

"Finn, stand up for me." Cardoza said easily, and Sara clenched her teeth.

He was enjoying this.

"Tie Sara's hands. Good and tight, her survival depends on it."

Finn obeyed, staring into Sara's eyes as she did. The silent conversation between them was unnoticeable to their gleeful oppressor.

_Get the kids out._

_Survive._

_Tighter, it's okay._

_I'm sorry. _

"Right, now sit." As Finn did so, Cardoza fixed a handgun between his teeth and picked up a longer section of rope, tying Lola to Sara tightly. Then he looped another rope around Sara's neck, putting two fingers between her soft flesh and the harsh fibres, wrapping the rope around the one binding the woman to the girl and finishing it off as a noose around Lola's neck.

"Perfect."

"Sara!" the voice was barely audible.

_Good girl. _

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know, sweetie." Sara breathed back. In seconds she fell to the floor, groaning as she hit the floor. He'd tied her legs together. He dragged her feet first to a window and yanked it open, lifting her up with incredible strength and perching her on the windowsill.

Then he pushed her off.

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Greg and Nick pushed their way to the front of the building in time to see Sara and Loeila fall. Their screams of horror merged with others, others who loved the woman and others drawn by the spectacle. As suddenly as it had begun the motion stopped, and both men turned to the screens that were playing from the back of an old van.

The image showed Finn, holding onto a rope and leaning back with all her weight, her feet anchored against the wall. Blood seeped from her hands to the rope, but it remained steady.

Greg held his breath as Morgan held him.

Sara's still form lowered slowly to the floor and he raced forwards.

There was no one else in the world.

"Lola! Sara!" he cried brokenly, tearing at the endless knots. He gave up after seconds as Brass bent down with a pocket knife. Sara opened her eyes and shuddered, before rolling over and throwing up.

One of Loeila's big brown eyes opened and she immediately started to scream. "DADDY!"

Greg scooped her off of the floor and into his arms. "Lola, Lola, oh god… Sara, are you okay?"

She nodded, accepting the swarming paramedics' inspections. "Finn, Reubs and Archie are still in there." Her voice was hoarse, her eyes tearful. "There was nothing we could do, it happened so fast."

"No one's blaming you." Russell, Nick and Ecklie said at once.

"Look!" Wendy cried, pointing at the screen.

They raced back over in time to see Finn clutching her bleeding hands as Cardoza smacked her around the face, accidently discharging his gun as he did so.

With a speed none of the adults deemed possible, Reuben Sanders was up and away. When Cardoza looked up he frowned.

"Oh Reuben? I play hide and seek with bullets!"

When there was no response, no one exhaled.

Cardoza growled angrily and started to stalk the nearby labs. The CSIs watched as he prowled into DNA. They watched as Reuben tried to skirt around him, as he was grabbed by his ear.

They watched as he threw a test tube full of a corrosive into Cardoza's face.

They watched as the agonized, furious man pulled his gun on Reuben.

A low battery signal appeared on the screen and it died.

A gun shot silenced the murmurs.

A silence sounded.

"D…Daddy?"

**CSIVCSIVCSIV**

Archie lowered the gun with trembling hands, calling out in a shaking voice.

"Reuben?"

"Achie!" the terrified cry replied. "Finn, him off!"

Finn and Archie ran to the moaning form of Zandro Cardoza and pulled him away, ignoring the bullet wound Archie had just inflicted on the man's hip.

Reuben flung himself into Finn's arms and she froze.

"Archie, wire."

Understanding the potential implications, the man bolted for the emergency exit, practically throwing Finn and Reuben before him down the stairs.

An agonized roar chased them down but they beat it, sunlight illuminating their injuries for what seemed like all the world to see.

"Reuben!" Greg cried. "Finn, Arch!"

He was the first to reach them, the electrifying fear of a father losing a child stimulating each muscle. A five way mangled hug followed, shortly before the paramedics rushed forwards.

As Greg sank onto the pavement, he felt small arms around him. He leant into Morgan unashamed as tears leaked from his eyes.

"Morgan…I might…"

"What?" she whispered.

"I can't do this anymore…" he sobbed, feeling utterly broken.

She frowned. "Wh-what?"

"I might have to quit my job."

**Well, a quick resolution! (Well, ish) There is a purpose, I have a plan (school work is rubbing off) so sorry if it seemed rushed. **

**Like I said for LBYE, updates will be slow as work takes priority til june, I'm sorry. **

**Reviews will help me pass my A Levels ;)**

**Seriously, though, if you enjoyed it (or not) tell me why (or why not), coz this is just as much your story as it is mine!**


	41. Chapter 41: End

**Hi guys!**

**Thank you so so much for your lovely reviews and support!**

**I am sorry to announce that this is where this story is ending. **

**DON'T ATTACK ME! ****A SEQUEL WILL INSTANTLY FOLLOW!**

**As in, this is being updated now because I am finally done with Chapter One of the sequel - **

**"Your Life Over Mine"**

**named after the song by Bribry. It will be uploaded immediately after this. **

**I hate it when people end fics like this and I am sorry. This is a ginormous risk for me as I HATE starting and ending stories, especially so abruptly, but I am experimenting, so please bear with! :)**

**A review from the lovely harmswife confirmed what I was thinking – that my attempt at a plot which linked and was had a main storyline running througouht was becoming less relevant, and I would be better of writing a sequel.**

**I hope you enjoyed In My Arms, please leave an ultimate final comment below if you enjoyed it and Read, Enjoy, and Review its sequel if you like!**


End file.
